"When looking at the profession of event technology (ET) in Europe the forms of training are inconsistent and forms of mutual recognition barely exist. It appears that more and more qualified ET specialists are required by the labour market. ET specialists are people who often find themselves working in an international environment. Guest performances, tours, major events involving several countries, require a huge variety of specifically trained specialists in the field of ET. By creating transparency in the field of relevant training this would provide a basis for facilitating inter-state recognition of those working in this field as well as supporting the international exchange of these experts. Security and safety related issues are a central, essential and important aspect of education in ET. Thus, it is important to consider standards and norms at international and national levels. Safety and security for visitors, participants, skilled workers and contributors is essential at each event, and especially at major events. For the requirements for a standardized and recognized training in ET, the project ECVAET 3 contributes for discussion and implementation in the partner countries.The first condition for the start of an EU-wide mutual recognition of qualifications is the creation of transparency in the field of training and education. One aim in ECVAET 3 is, to identify the requirement for a master craftsman training for the ET for the German-speaking area in Europe, present it in a competency matrix and map it with safety aspects in a security matrix, which are designed according to the VQTS principle. Subsequently the design of modules towards an European master craftsman training should initiate the discussion and the processes for implementing one single European master craftsman training.The project relies on the results of the previous projects (ECVAET and ECVAET 2) using the created products and outputs. The partner organisations involved in the project are research and educational institutions from Austria (AT), Germany (DE), and Liechtenstein (LI, is connected to the Swiss vocational education system), who are actively involved in the creation and development of training offers for vocational training in the ET branche or who work in the related field of research, and who have been part of the former consortia. While the focus in ECVAET and ECVAET2 was on ET competencies and skills from the basic training in the German speaking countries, the current project ECVAET 3 focus on competencies and skills for master craftsman training in ET. In a first step, the investigation of vocational education and training in ET in the partner countries leads to an analysis of the current status quo and will be presented in a study. Based on this, the present matrices ""Competence Matrix"" and ""Safety Matrix"" in event technology will be developed in terms of the required competencies and skills to a European master craftsman training. In a final step modules are designed to form a profile for an European master craftsman training, including aspects like regulations and laws, technical standards and norms and intercultural competencies. For all results the involvement of stakeholders in industry and education are foreseen, especially as subject to a process of consolidation.The master craftsman training in the various technical professions and trades represents vocational education at its highest qualification level, but is recognised internationally at different levels. Main requirements for the master craftsman training are topics like management qualification, organizational and management tasks, combining vocational training and higher education training, which is a further research element in this project, particularly concerning the management competencies required for the master craftsman qualification. So a sub-task of the project is to evaluate how to realise a dual vocational education and training on the interface of vocational education and higher education, based on the current example in ET.The project represents an additional contribution to the development of a European area of skills and qualifications towards more transparency in vocational education. It directly addresses the objectives of the European Agenda 2020 for creating a consistent area for educational and labour. The project contributes to the recognition and validation of competences and qualifications, building on proven processes and systems (ECVET, EQF, VQTS). In addition, it acts at the following levels:- Growing demand for highly skilled jobs- A global competition for talent: Internationalization of education- Offer extraordinary expansion of learning and use of potentials of ICT- Complementarity between formal, informal and non-formal learning- Need to unite education to industrial / vocational needs"

"The project ""employment and integration of foreign workers, migrants and refugees in the event industry"" [Event Industry Integration] is a contribution to resolving the issue of integration of European refugees by promoting equal opportunities, social cohesion and active citizenship. At the core of the project is the problem-focused response to the challenges posed by education and training systems. The European events industry is a dynamic, fast growing and innovative industry. In addition to many unskilled workers, qualified specialists are also in great demand on the labour market. A structured and pragmatic approach has been developed for this international and multicultural working environment in order to create a quick start into employment and a basis for sustainable integration for those people with a migration background.The project consortium unites experts in the field of integration and inclusion (ÖSB Consulting, Austria), specialists in the field of media and augmented reality based training and learning applications (i-smARt, Liechtenstein), university research and development competence (ITU, Denmark) as well as representatives and decision makers in the European event industry (EVVC e.V. and VPLT e.V., Germany). In addition to this working group, there was in-depth cooperation with stakeholders from the event industry, such as employers, managers and decision-makers, integrated educational institutions, chambers of commerce and lecturers, both in the development process and in the creation of alliances with public authorities, as well as with individuals and organisations from the fields of migration consultancy, labour market integration, placement and employment. In order to develop a practical solution for the employment problems of refugees and migrants, the following tools and practical resources were developed from the project.Tools for assessing and validating competence: which serve a transparent recognition process, as well as the utilization of key competences within the target group. The tools make it possible to assess existing competences with a view to the future workplace and actual employment in the event sector. The multi-stage evaluation includes not only the survey of personal interests but also social, personal, technical and methodological competences.Curriculum for vocational integration for training providers: Primarily serves to prepare participants for entry into a vocational activity. The contents and aspects to be taken into account in the course of integration and employment activities, to be conveyed and implemented within an accompanying training action are described; in addition, an orientation on the scope of services and basis for the design of the learning and teaching activities of the training action are described.Toolbox Diversity Management for companies employing political refugees: Provides answers to the question of how to successfully integrate political refugees into the company. The toolbox can be used by all companies for which the employment of political refugees is an issue, either because they are taking them in for the first time or because they generally want to improve employee cooperation within the company. Augmented Reality Learning and Training Applications [Apps]: The two Augmented Reality based prototypes of the ""Who am I"" and ""Wishing Table"" apps primarily support the informal learning process of the user. The apps, including the explanation video, can be freely accessed and used.The concrete integration and employment activity were designed and successfully implemented with the help of the tools developed. In this active test phase, the effectiveness of the tools was assessed and evaluated. Participants from the target group and interested companies were brought together through the activity and accompanied and supported by the consortium in an observation phase of several months. The results and findings have been published and discussed in the form of numerous events, publications and digital channels. Under the newly created branding ""step2mice"", the project is highly relevant and accepted across industry and national borders [step2mice.eu]. A practical guide ""step2mice – Sieben Schritte zur Integration und Beschäftigung"" summarises recommendations, supports the adaptation of measures and tools and confirms the sustainable impact of the project.But most importantly: ""step2mice"" offers the target group an above-average chance of continued employment and a permanent apprenticeship or job."

"Augmented Reality (AR) has the potential to support effective learning in informal and non-formal learning environments, in school or higher education and in professional education. Especially in the building/construction industry or in the Event Industry, trainings for safety and security are needed to protect workers at their workplace. One central issue hereby is, that particular elements must be taken in consideration (e.g., teaching and learning elements, design elements, etc.) when developing effective learning applications. Such applications should support responsible persons at the workplace so that they can ensure that each employee has been trained in safety & security, has understood the key elements of the training and has the ability to behave according the instructions.Therefore, Learning Analytics (LA) provides various tools and concepts to support learning, especially for people who are involved in learning processes (trainer, trainee, evaluator). Within the project, a framework was developed based on LA insights, to implement elements of AR learning and to support teaching and learning processes towards a higher efficiency and efficacy. E.g., dashboards integrate aspects derived from LA to provide feedback about handling and ease of use from the apps, as well as measures for learning performance. The consortium of leading European scientist from the areas LA and AR established a strategical partnership with VET partners, in which the conceptualisation of the topics LA and AR are used to apply in the field of professional education, especially in informal learning environments and directly at workplaces. With their work, the partners contributed to the research community and developed new opportunities at workplaces and also for LA and AR to provide an added value and to give answer to current questions from professional education. Partners of the consortium are: i-smART (coordination in LI), IT University Copenhagen (DK), Oxford Brookes University (GB), STEPP vzw (BE), and VPLT (DE). In a first step, a generic, conceptual framework was developed, based on current research results (IO1: paper ""literature review"") and to answer leading questions (IO1: paper ""blueprint""), also to apply the framework in the development stages for AR software applications. In a second step with various iterations, a series of functional prototypes of AR learning applications were developed (IO2: iPhone/iPad and Microsoft Hololens) for analysis and evaluation purposes, which then were applied in various iterations (design science approach) within field experiments (IO3) at workplaces for the Event Industry (e.g., training elements from the Hilversum test as developed by the ERASMUS+ project “ETTE” for traditional training). The source codes are made accessible for the public (e.g., on github and project website ""www.competenceanalytics.eu""). From the results and insights, key questions are answered like: How can AR and LA be used in professional training applications to create more effective learning experiences for learners on their individual path and pace. Additionally, the provided insights from a ""big-data analysis"" of the captured training data demonstrate how to process likewise in a small work environment. The provided methods lead to knowledge about their application for established, large learning environments.Exemplarily, a full session training and assessment (e.g. from the Hilversum test, project ETTE: How to connect trusses) was conducted on the basis of AR learning applications and the use of LA tools and measures (IO3: paper ""collaboration"" and thesis paper). Finally, recommendations were given towards how the transparency of learning services in the understanding of learning outcomes can be depicted with the aid of LA and AR in order to dismiss the responsibility for employers and not only to offer the possibility to participate in safety briefings (consumption) but also to ensure that employees have understood and will behave adequately (see IO1 result ""white paper"").With the Multiplier Event (carried out at the biggest industry fair in Frankfurt) and other dissemination activities of all partners, the project addressed a wide range of organizations that are related with the industry, and scientific audience (e.g., in multiple conference presentations worldwide). More than 500 experts and participants were included into the test and experiment sessions and interviewed within the field experiments and in multiple stakeholder discussions.The LAAR project demonstrates a futuristic idea of education and training with user-friendly training and sustainable learning success. The results are already reused in other E+ projects (e.g., TeBeVAT), scientific research (e.g., design framework) and in practice (e.g., ETTE safety training). In future, the consortium aims to continue with the development of AR learning applications for various devices and additional training scenarios."

Die Veranstaltungstechnik (VAT) zählt in Europa zu einer dynamischen, schnell wachsenden und innovativen Branche. Qualifizierte Fachpersonen sind am Arbeitsmarkt gefragt, vor allem im internationalen Umfeld wie bei Grossveranstaltungen, an denen oftmals mehrere Nationen beteiligt sind. Viele grössere Produktionen bedürfen einer enormen Vielzahl an spezifisch ausgebildeten Spezialisten im Bereich der VAT. Diese grenzüberschreitenden Einsätze erfordern den international flexiblen und rechtlich konformen Einsatz der Fachkräfte, vor allem hinsichtlich sicherheitsrelevanter Bereiche. So gilt es, international und national je unterschiedliche Normen und Rahmenbedingungen in der VAT zu berücksichtigen. Bei jedem Event steht dabei die Sicherheit für BesucherInnen, TeilnehmerInnen, FacharbeiterInnen und Mitwirkende im Mittelpunkt. Für die berufliche Weiterbildung in der VAT stehen europaweit sehr unterschiedliche und nur national anerkannte Qualifizierungen zur Verfügung. In den vorangegangen Projekten ECVAET und ECVAET 2 wurden Grundlagen erarbeitet, die einen länderübergreifenden Fachkräfteaustausch unterstützen, wie die Kompetenzmatrix Tätigkeit, die Sicherheitsmatrix und die Weiterbildungspläne für den transnationalen Fachkräfteaustausch.Eine zentrale Aufgabe im Projekt ECVAET 2.5 war es, aufbauend auf diesen Grundlagen (=Innovationstransfer) den transnationalen Fachkräfteaustausch mit Teilnehmenden aus den Partnerländern (AT und DE) zu erproben. Dazu waren die im Konsortium vertretenen, fünf Einrichtungen einerseits als Sende- und Empfangseinrichtungen von Fachkräften für die Begleitung der Fachpersonen verantwortlich, andererseits auch als Bildungseinrichtung zur Umsetzung und Durchführung der in ECVAET 2 identifizierten Weiterbildungsschwerpunkte für diese transnationale Massnahme. So wurden die Ergebnisse aus den vorangegangenen Projekten ECVAET und ECVAET 2, wie z.B. die Matrix Tätigkeit und die Sicherheitsmatrix, sowie die Weiterbildungspläne für die VAT herangezogen und in der Praxis im Rahmen des Präsenzunterrichts im Fachkräfteaustausch erprobt. Sowohl inhaltliche wie fachliche Weiterbildungseinrichtungen kamen als Konsortial- oder externe Partner zum Einsatz. Die Ergebnisse wurden mit den Stakeholdern aus den Bildungsbereichen und Vertretern der Branche diskutiert und evaluiert. Dadurch soll die Diskussion hinsichtlich einheitlicher europäischer Aus- und Weiterbildungen in der VAT aus den vorangegangenen Projekten weitergeführt werden, um konkrete Möglichkeiten zur Schaffung von internationalen Bildungsangeboten in der VAT voranzubringen.Im Projektverlauf wurden konkrete Lernmodule im Sinne der Umsetzung des ECVET-Gedankens entwickelt. In das Design der Module kamen die Ergebnisse aus den vorhergehenden Projekten ECVAET und ECVAET 2 zur Anwendung: aktualisierte Inhalte von Ausbildungsverordnungen und Bildungscurricula wurden verwendet, sowie die aus der transparenten Darstellung durch Anwendung der Matrizen abgebildete Qualifikationen identifiziert. Zusätzlich wurden - soweit möglich - die nationalen Bildungsträger und Bildungsfachleute der VAT in den Designprozess mit einbezogen.Mit der strukturierten Auseinandersetzung und dem Design einer europäischen Fachausbildung auf Basis der bisherigen Ergebnisse aus den beiden Vorprojekten (und somit die direkte Nutzung der EU-Werkzeuge zur Beruflichen Bildung wie das ECVET System) wurde mit dem Projekt ein weiterer Beitrag zur Entwicklung eines Europäischen Raums der Kompetenzen und Qualifikationen geleistet, somit ein weiterer Beitrag zur Schaffung von mehr Transparenz in der beruflichen Bildung. Damit werden konkret die Ziele der Europäischen Agenda 2020 zur Schaffung eines einheitlichen Bildungs- und Arbeitsraums adressiert. Das Projekt trägt bei zur Anerkennung und Validierung von Kompetenzen und Qualifikationen, baut auf erprobte Prozesse zur Anerkennung und Validierung von Kompetenzen und entwickelt diese weiter für die fachspezifischen Projektanforderungen. Gleichzeitig adressiert es folgende, in der Broschüre zum ERASMUS+ kommunizierte Wirkungen durch das Programm:- Wachsender Bedarf an hoch qualifizierten Arbeitsplätzen- Eine globaler Wettbewerb um Talente: Internationalisierung der Bildung- Außerordentliche Ausweitung des Lernens bieten und Nutzung von Potenzialen der IKT- Komplementarität zwischen formalem, informellem und nicht formalem Lernen- Notwendigkeit einer Annäherung von Bildung an die Bedürfnisse der Arbeitswelt

<< Background >>The European event industry faces several sector specific circumstances which create unique conditions for employees and employers to find one another. There are two main reasons: innovation and mobility. First, being both subject to and a driver of technological change, the event industry is perceived as extremely innovative and inherits extremely short lifetimes of knowledge. This is especially true for the field of event technicians. Learners are often required to update their knowledge immediately after being rewarded their qualification. The continuous restoration of knowledge and skills yields the current situations that employees acquire manifold competences throughout their working life which are neither certified nor validated. As a result, event technicians have difficulties to prove their mastery of latest technology. Employers on the other hand have difficulties to ensure the suitability of their personnel for certain types of jobs. Second, event technician labour force is extremely mobile, working often on international projects or foreign employers. With different understanding about job profiles in European member states, the match of competences of employees to the expectations of employers poses a large obstacle to employment process. These labour market rigidities have excelled with the COVID-19 pandemic and the complete stillstand of the event sector. The shutdown of the industry is putting great pressure onto the business model of established firms and companies. Due to the complete standstill of the industry and the proximity to other industry branches, many professionals have assumed new responsibilities. These workers won’t be available by the time events will take place again – limiting the capacity of the entire industry to deliver high-quality services once events are being planned again.A common denominator of these shortcomings is the importance of non-formal and informal learning. The high degree of learning-on-the job and self-education throughout the working life are inherent to the biography of most employees of the industry. A clear need of the industry is therefore a more flexible education system which takes count of prior learning and which provides for certification processes to make non-formal and informal learning visible. Finally, a common language needs to be established concerning skills and knowledge across national education systems. The answer to these shortcomings must therefore be established on a European level, providing for a structural solution to this systematic problem.<< Objectives >>In order to address these labour market rigidities, PACE-VET will provide significant contributions to the validation of competences in a European context. A common denominator of the shortcomings on the event labour market is the importance of non-formal and informal learning. The high degree of learning-on-the job and self-education throughout the working life are inherent to the biography of most employees of the event industry. The validation and recognition of prior, non-formal and informal learning on a European level via micro-credentials would therefore contribute to a more inclusive, resilient, mobile, and sustainable labour market in a fragile working environment. Following the Council Recommendation of 20 December 2012 on the validation of non-formal and informal learning (2012/C 398/01) as well as the Council Recommendation of 24 November 2020 on vocational education and training (VET) for sustainable competitiveness, social fairness, and resilience 2020/C 417/01, the enactment of transparent recognition processes in vocational education and training supports strongly the intentions of the European commission’s objective to strengthen VET in the EU. The PACE-VET project provides a significant contribution to these objectives by illustrating the practicality of a validation methodology and the provision of digital tools to equip both learners and assessors with the necessary means to credibly and reliably support the validation process. Specifically, PACE-VET aims to implement a validation process of acquired skills through the implementation of a digital, blockchain-based database solution (the Learning Record Store (LRS)) and the use of micro-credentials. This will provide a transferable solution on the example of the event technology labour market, which was particularly affected by the COVID 19 pandemic. The project recognises the importance of lifelong learning in the special labour market of event technology. It complements and extends the two former projects TeBeVAT 1 & 2 and the ongoing project TeBeVAT 3 with the end to pace-up the work done so far: the implementation of a validation process supporting partial certification of competences and the connection of associations and institutional partners from the field across the EU. Ultimately, the project contributes to increases learning opportunities, labour market mobility, structuring and planning of lifelong learning and broadens the perspective on partial certification for VET in the EU.<< Implementation >>The objective of PACE-VET is highly user oriented and is reliant on the active engagement and attraction of stakeholders. The project therefore will involve a series of activities to include end-users, participants, and volunteers in the development process. Further, the attraction of interested parties like educational institutions, chambers of commerce and certifying authorities and the engagement into active discussions and reflection about the needs of the industry regarding the future of education and training in the sector will be a central part of the projects work. To strengthen the involvement and to support the dissemination of these activities, the project will be participating in several international trade fairs from the event sector and hold regular meetings in which experts from the fields of certification and education will be invited. Two major aspects lay out the corner stones of the project:First, the project follows an iterative approach to achieve the outlined objectives. From the requirement analysis (“Pflichtenheft & Lastenheft”), the application development and documentation to the design and conduct of assessment and final credentialization, steps are being planned, conducted, evaluated and repeated if necessary, in order to achieve the best possible result. To ensure that the developed results will meet the requirements and expectations of users and stakeholders close communication and direct involvement. Dedicated activities will be established like expert interviews of learners, educational institutions and certifying authorities, acceptance measurement in the development process, critical analysis in reflection and discussion rounds a supported by the associated partners in a Reflection board.Second, an actual assessment will be conducted. To this end, participants will be brought into the project to test the application, run through the assessment and have their competences in two specific learning fields validated. These assessments will be carried out on-premise in the Netherlands by previously trained assessors, which will prepare and conduct the assessment. Assessors and participants will receive a digital credential certifying the competences assessed. With the assessment carried out, the project will train the first generation of assessors and provide evidence for the feasibility of the partial certification process.<< Results >>PACE-VET will make significant contribution to the validation and certification of prior learning in the context of Vocational Education and Training in the EU. The project will provide substantial advancements in two areas: 1) digitalisation in lifelong learning and 2) providing processes for competence recognition. With the provision of a digital application that is capable to connect to different databases (LMS), ensure unforgeability and trustworthiness (use of blockchain) and integrates features for learners and assessors (via Cloud Computing), large usability potential can be unlocked. The application will provide a currently missing tool that is user-friendly, secure and flexible to use. With a complete front- and backend, that integrate a Learning Record Store via xAPI, learners will finally be provided with means to document their non-formally and informally acquired learning. With the provision of processes that respect a high standard of quality assurance, the suggested recognition process excels currently existing practices. Quality assurance has been proven pivotal in the acceptance of validation processes, rendering the result of the project highly relevant for certifying and educational authorities. The provision of certifications via micro credentials, making use of recent technical and educational innovations, sheds new light into the assessment of partial qualifications.By providing an exhaustive documentation alongside the application and the requirement specification, PACE-VET supports the easy replicability by outside parties and an easier to follow replication of the validation process in other sectors of the economy. Especially the documentation belonging to the application will facilitate developers with an interest to pick up of the LRS to build on existing groundwork, thus lowering the threshold of transferring the process to other sectors and enabling a broader and sustainable usage of the final product. At least the micro-credentials for Light and Sound will not only be developed but also demonstrated and validated in an assessment activity. With the validity of the validation process proven, further credentials can be developed for the event technicians, and the concept can be exported entirely to other sectors. With the finally developed Best Practice Report at hand, other interest groups will have a concise guide at hand to understand the work steps which have been done from start to finish of the validation process.Finally, assessors will be trained and facilitated to carry out on-premise assessments of competences in the realm of event technicians. These assessments will provide participants the opportunity to test the developed app, to record their nonformal and informal learning and to receive support throughout the validation process. In the end, assessors and participants will receive digital badges which are unforgeable and proof the functioning of the certification process. These badges represent the successful award of a micro-credential and proofs the acquisition of skills, knowledge and competences. In general, the project takes count of the needs of an industry that is in a precarious situation. The involvement of several associations as partners and associated partners will contribute to an even stronger cooperation among the event sector on a European level. Steering and disseminating good practices in education and training and collaborating on the enactment of common structures across national borders to improve needed transparency and mobility. With the large partner network, a wide number of stakeholders can be reached, sensitised and sustainably connected.