This project addresses of of Erasmus + KA2 CBHE priorities: Recognition of Qualifications and Qualification Framework. This is a regional priority for the Western Balkans, meaning it is a cumulative priority for all countries. Moreover, an added value is that for Albania and Bosnia and Hercegovina, this is also a national priority for CBHE projects. Service related competences are becoming an important aspect in non-formal and informal learning setting however, their integration in HEI learning approaches is quite new. Thus the project presents a new engagement of HEIs into an innovative qualification framework of social-related competences. Considering that none of the Balkan Countries has a previous experience in validating qualification framework of social related competences the project includes each WBC, represented by two HEI each. Following the European path, Partner countries are evolving into a service-based society. Hence professional lives are increasingly determined by concepts such as:- customer orientation,- sectoral and international collaboration-the need for continuous learning to adapt to rapidly changing demands.Consequently values and competences like:- external (customer) orientation,- team work/ cooperation- social competences necessary for effective management in the service sector are becoming competitive factors at the job level and as such aspired competences both for employment and societal reasons.Most important outputs will be:->Validation of service related competences-> IT-based system to create and validate learning outcomes-> Validation and creation of service-related with an IT-based Assessment and Evidencing system.

The proposal EntrAL supports the employability of young graduates through entrepreneurship education. By organizing entrepreneurial courses at different educational levels (pre-university and university levels) and to a large audience (pre-university teachers and university teachers and students), the project aims at a wider impact. The proposal does not only support the entrepreneurial mind-set of highly educated students but also of pre-university teachers, who will encourage the next generation to think outside of the box and be more risk driven. For this reason the project encourages entrepreneurial teaching methods, and nurture entrepreneurial behavior from the students. Teachers are supported by the university structure and mechanisms (LLL, activities for staff); students get from their teachers better support and advice in term of entrepreneurship and skills related to entrepreneurial attitude, supporting their employability after graduation. The project will implement entrepreneurship to the existing U3M-AL and TEAVET centers teacher qualification process lifelong and Third Mission according to the needs of the teachers. It will utilise the established specialized centers of teacher training in accordance with the needs of MESY to increase entrepreneurial mind-set at national level through accredited teacher training in entrepreneurship. The entrepreneurial mind-set at institutional level will be increased through teacher training and entrepreneurship modules using scientific methodologies, pedagogical issues, ethics and ICT use in learning. New expertise and standard of teacher training in entrepreneurship will be established in Albanian universities and schools through organizing seminars in Albanian universities and training visits to European universities.

European business sector pays an ever more increasing attention to competences such as sense of initiative and entrepreneurship. The recommendation 2006/962/EC on key competences for lifelong learning highlights paramount importance of these key competences for employability. These competences related to entrepreneurship play a paramount role in EU neighbouring countries in their development process towards higher performing market economies and convergence with EU economic and social standards, their employers miss these competences in graduates particularly from ICT and engineering. WB countries and Russia in general have a high level of resistance to private initiatives, business and entrepreneurship. Many of the youngsters prefer “safe” employment at public enterprises, awareness and appreciation of own entrepreneurship potentials is low.The project aims at developing, testing, validating and mainstreaming holistic and needs driven open learning modules to promote entrepreneurship competences of ICT and engineering graduates at the interface of academic education and learning in practice business contexts.Competence level of graduates in participating partner countries is researched and regional training needs are identified; modular, practice-oriented entrepreneurship trainings are developed; validation system comprising a suite of entrepreneurship-related competences descriptions, context-related reference systems to assess and evidence these competences, and an online assessment and validation system based on the proven and tested Level 5 approach are created and used; a connection of this assessment and validation system to formal validation and accreditation systems (ECTS) and certification systems (EUROPASS) will be explored to allow for transnational exploitation of acquired competences; entrepreneurship training modules and competence validation system are piloted, evaluated and mainstreamed into existing curricula in ICT and engineering programmes.

The T@sk Project aims to reinforce the delivery of Social Services in Albania by empowering Albanian Higher Education Institutions in the field of Social Work. T@sk pursues its main aim through extensive investment in the professionalization, internationalization and digitization of teaching and learning activities of Albanian HEIs for Social Work, and by promoting a stable, proactive and innovative relationship with key actors in Social Services delivery: professional Social Workers, public agencies for Social Services planning and supply, national and international NGOs. Albania suffers from deep unequal distribution of Social Services, predominantly concentrated in urban areas and poorly diversified in terms of citizens’ needs. The intensification of the process of European integration coincided with EU institutions’ requests to invest in the centrality of human rights and the implementation of policies aiming to integrate minorities, and granting social rights to unprivileged citizens. In this scenario, professional Social Workers play an essential role. Social Work is currently a regulated profession in Albania. It has changed profoundly over the last decade, as a consequence of new laws and regulations that have transformed the previous system of cash benefits management into a system that should be based on case management at different levels of society: individuals and families, groups and communities, centralized and decentralized institutions. The qualification requirements expected of Albanian Social Workers hinge upon recent and insufficient investment in HEIs in Social Work. The delivery of Social Services suffers from a widespread lack of professionalism. Social Work graduates continue to account for only a minority of employees in the Social Services. This is as a result of the fragile positioning of the Social Work profession in the Albanian labour market.Within this complex framework, the T@sk project operates according to a strategy developed at three main levels, coinciding with the project’s specific aims: 1)Improve the competences and skills of Academic staff (direct targets) and of students (indirect targets) at the Universities of Tirana, Shkoder and Elbasan that offer a BA and/or MA in Social Work;2)Develop the triangulation of knowledge, professional practice and political investment between HEIs and stakeholders that – at different levels – are responsible for the delivery of Social Services in Albania;3)Promote and circulate international Best Practices that can be tailored to specific social needs in Albania, paying particular attention to vulnerable groups of underprivileged women and children at risk of social marginality. By pursuing these specific aims, the T@sk Project’s ambition is to achieve assessable outcomes at the level of HEIs and Albanian society in terms of: a)Internationalization, increased level of technological innovation, planning the curricular capacity and management competence of key actors in HEIs: teachers, students, administrative staff and senior officials through participation in training sessions and peer-to peer exchanges; b)Professionalization of the relationships between HEIs, professional Social Workers and policymakers in the social policy arena through joint participation in the training and dissemination activities of the project;c)Promotion of social cohesion, equality of access to Social Services, capacity to design tailored services for citizens with different levels of need. By achieving the specific aims and expected outcomes listed above, the T@sk project will contribute to modernizing the functioning of HEIs in the field of Social Work and create a solid background for strengthening the Albanian Welfare State.

In Albania, the Ministry of Education and Sports (MoESY) is working on the national strategy for the Development of Pre-University Education that includes the implementation of a comprehensive Vocational and Educational Training (VET) System for the professional development of teachers that are in service at pre-university levels. The project aims at contributing to the comprehensive VET system for teachers by developing a lifelong learning (LLL) Teacher Training System of high quality by means of an accreditation procedure and through the establishment of specialized LLL centres in Albanian universities.Specific objectives are the following:1. Defining a strategy for a comprehensive VET system for teachers emphasasing the contribution of universities as main providers of ongoing professional development for a high quality of the teacher qualification process. This objective will be achieved by both European and Albanian partners in collaboration with MoESY. 2. Establishing new expertise and standard of teacher training in Albanian universities through organizing a training workshop for Albanian universities and training visits to European universities. This objective will be reached in each Albanian university involving the process of academic staff selection with certain expertise in training program development. 3. Establishing specialized LLL Centres for Teacher Training according to the strategy of MoESY and to the needs of in-service teachers. Each Albanian university in collaboration with European partners and MoESY will decide about training centre team that has to include academic staff selected, master teachers and representatives of regional directorate of education in order to meet all the teachers’ needs for annual qualification and professional development. The centre should have a location with a name, an address, a structure proposed, etc. Albanian partners have to visit European project partner institutions and to be trained in order to understand the process.4. Developing teacher training course programs for different levels of education in scientific methodologies, pedagogical issues, ethics and ICT use in learning according to European standards. After identifying teacher qualification needs, the training centres team have to coordinate through a Network of LLL Centres for Teacher Training in order to identify and select the teacher training programs that contribute in relevant level in the new competencies of teaching in high standard. 5. Designing and developing a new academic methodology that consist in credits application to MoESY for 16 new teacher training courses with 2 credits each and design classrooms and equipment to support the training process. 6. Creating digital structures (video projectors, interactive laboratories, smart board, laptops, etc.) in Albanian universities that support training process for teacher qualification and their lifelong learning. Academic staff and students involved to the centre will work to be creative and to discover equipment and other ICT resources that perform and illustrate new knowledge in an attractive way. 7. Developing a national information management system & database of teacher training that will be able to register teachers in training courses, to manage the assessment processes, exams, course materials delivery, etc. Human resources of Albanian universities will be engaged to design and develop the national system that manages the process of teacher registration. This objective involves government requirements within the definition of a broadher accreditation system and needs the collaboration of representatives from MoESY and other national and international stakeholders.