<< Background >>Work Based Learning (WBL) is an educational model that is deeply rooted in some European countries and has been moving forward with greater intensity in the last few decades, although unevenly in different countries. The concept of WBL has traditionally been associated with Vocational Education and Training (VET) and plays an important role in many european educational systems, where it has been used extensively. In the last few years the concept of WBL has also been related to Higher Education (HE), it appears as a model of professionalization as it strongly links the socioeconomic fabric with the academic offer. The need to create specific training adapted to the requirements of the environment and also the problem of youth unemployment, has placed this option as a new model to be developed. Together, we will jointly identify the needs of the current tutoring systems and improve them.The fast changes and increased complexity of today’s world bring new challenges and demands to our education systems, this includes multilingual competences, entrepreneurial mind-set, critical thinking, but also social and learning to learn competences. Within this project, we will provide qualitative and quantitative improvements and benefits for the different actors involved: students, companies and HE centres.<< Objectives >>Between the different participants of this Cooperation partnership, we have identified poor training for both academic and company facilitators and also a lack of commitment, not giving the training the importance it should have.The aim of i-WOBAL (International Work Based Learning in HE) is to build up an international WBL model through an online training for the academic and company facilitators for the development of an innovative and more effective teaching-learning process that will revert to the improvement of student employability and will adjust it to what companies need, training students specifically on market`s demand.We want to actively involve all parties (companies, HE centres and students) showing them the importance of proper training and how it can revert positively for each one of them.The project will also achieve fast adaptability to the different trends in the labour market, as the produced results will be a versatile product susceptible to change.<< Implementation >>4 Universities and 3 VET Centres will make up the consortium:- 4 Universities: University of Deusto (Spain), OTH Regensburg (Germany), Donau Universitat Krems (Austria) and Icam(France).- 3 VET Centres: ENAIP Veneto (Italy), Centro San Viator (Spain) and Egibide (Spain)The project will be subdivided in different activities that at the same time will be determined by 5 target groups: Adult learning, People with disabilities, Bachelor Degrees, Master's Degrees and NEETs. The tasks will be:- Development and preparation of an individual report, according to their target group and their country, both at HE level and company level (e.g., policies and regulations for WBL, application and assessment periods for WBL, methods of training for facilitators and evaluation methods). Each partner will focus on the field where they have the most expertise and background knowledge.- Collection, analysis and evaluation of the recovered information: Once these reports are prepared we will share this information among the partners and establish a Didactical common guide among all parties to successfully develop the Online School of Facilitators.- Development of the Online School of Facilitators: taking the guide as a starting point, we will generate a course that will be hosted on an online learning platform (LMS - Learning management system). This will be the main unit of the project activity and it will involve research, production, testing and evaluation - all of them implemented by the partners- Online School of Facilitators training: this training course will deal with aspects and contents related to the technical and personal skills for facilitation in WBL processes. Course participants will learn how to be a facilitator for WBL and what are the benefits that companies, HE centres and students will get from it. The mission will be to train all the agents involved in the WBL ecosystem to generate meaningful and transformative learning processes in cooperation.All the materials will be available, open and free, on the i-WOBAL website and other public repositories in English.<< Results >>We have defined two Project Results. Our aim is to build up an international WBL model through a didactical guide and an online training for the academic and company facilitators.Through this Cooperation Partnership we want to develop a Didactical Guide that will help both company and academic facilitators to provide students the best possible training, adapted to the different needs, skills and competences required by the current labour market. Within this Guide, we will also launch the Online School of Facilitators to put it into practice. Implementing this project internationally will allow us to share the different approaches of WBL of the participating countries (Austria, France, Germany, Italy and Spain), based on different target groups (Adult learning, People with disabilities, Bachelor Degrees, Master's Degrees and NEETs) and adapt it to the particular needs of each one of us. The international dimension of the project will help all the partners to co-create and co-design models and guidelines to upgrade the cooperation between HE centres and companies. Together we will build up a model that can be easily adapted to each one's individual needs.i-WOBAL project will have a positive and long lasting impact on participants, organisations, associated partners and people involved in the actions and different target groups.It will boost international WBL at all levels, including innovation in education, encouraging cooperation and mutual learning, internationalisation, linking and collaboration between HE Centres and companies. The project will have direct impact on the partners of the consortium but it will also have an indirect impact on people and other important stakeholders reached by the multiplier events and other dissemination actions.This strategic partnership will benefit everyone, students, HE Centres, companies, and the society as a whole.

<< Background >>Robotics is already the key driver of competitiveness and flexibility in large scale manufacturing industries and, more importantly, is becoming more relevant for smaller manufacturing industries. However, one of the main factors jeopardising its implementation is related to safety and security, especially in those cases where robots interact with humans. Robotics lacks skilled workforce, and not all European countries even have robotics in their VET-curricula. On one hand, In Denmark, moving towards 2030 it is estimated a potential of 90.000 – 150.000 jobs directly linked to development and implementation of automation technology. If we however continue the current education pattern, we will only have 70.000 – 80.000 with the enough educational background to fill those jobs (Automatiseringens effekter på det danske arbejdsmarked, McKinsey & Company 2017). On the other hand, VET-schools experience challenges in finding skilled teachers of robotics. It makes a lot of sense to join forces in offering learning environments to learners, in enriching teaching, in developing of teaching and learning content, and in sharing of knowhow amongst teachers.A third point is the importance of soft skills in current, fast changing working life. Mr Antti Manu, Docent from University of Turku in Finland has carried out a study in which about 350 experts in Finnish working life gave their views on the working life skills they require of students graduating from VET-schools. Only about one in four respondents emphasised work technology skills and other content expertise. The student's ability to direct his/her own activities and attach to the working group, as well as other social and interaction skills, was much more important. Similar results have been obtained in numerous domestic and international studies. Robocup addresses this point in the chosen methodology of MicroChallenges, to enhance and support the development of student’s soft skills combined with learning and practicing on safety in robotics.<< Objectives >>The objective is to increase the knowledge and skills of VET students enrolled in robotics -related VET-programs:- Being aware of robot related hazards and being able to identify and mitigate them- Understanding basic safety guidelines for robotic applications- Identifying key elements related to robot safety- Applying provisions of safety standards in different operations with robots (design and manufacturing, programming, maintenance, and machine communication)- Enhancing soft skills relevant to working life (e.g. problem solving, teamwork, presentation skills, English communication, time management) The adaption of VET education for the labour market needs is our driver. 10 VET -teachers from 4 European countries will work together in developing of four MicroChallenges related to safety in robotics: Get a grip! Test for succes! Play safe! and Better together! The MicroChallenges will be tested in collaborative challenges in transnational groups of students. In doing so, the involved teachers and students network and share their expertise and learn from each other. Companies are involved in the content design and in giving feedback.A Manual on how to run the MicroChallenges in safety in robotics is produced, making it possible for institutions and organisations outside the partnership to run these or similar MicroChallenges. Video tutorials and testimonials will help to grasp the content and the method.The adaption of VET education for the labourmarket and at the same time make VET an attractive choice to the young will be our aim in this project.<< Implementation >>The project will have four major activities - the four MicroChallenges related to safety in robotics: MicroChallenge 1. “Get a grip”. Safety regarding design and manufacturing (pneumatic, 3D printed gripper) MicroChallenge 2. “Test for success”. Test a gripper on a robot, design a robot fence (mechanical, electrical) MicroChallenge 3. “Play safe!”. Safety during PLC programming (laser scanner, sensors) MicroChallenge 4. “Better together”. Integration with external equipment, collaborative robotics The MicroChallenges will be planned, implemented and assessed during 4 blended mobility activities where a total of 64 VET students will participate in a collaborative challenge in order to solve each of the challenges proposed in safety in robotics. A company representative will also be invited to participate in the evaluation team during each collaborative challenge.<< Results >>A manual on how to teach safety in robotics through the MicroChallenges - complete with homepage and videos will be the main results of the project. The exchange of approaches to robotics, expertise of VET teachers and equipment available in the partner-VET-schools will help develope competences of the teachers involved and to integrate new contents on robotic programs related to safety, giving a more comprehensive approach to the subject. Attention will also be given to describe the soft skills development via the MicroChallenge -method in international studentteams, e.g. teamwork, problem solving, and communicating in English. In the long term, the project will contribute to a higher relevance, reputation and attractiveness of the VET sector and to its internationalization as well as to develop changing skills needed and thereby improve employability of students in robotics and the availability of skilled workers for companies.