The ERFAL project is a KA2 Strategic Partnership for Exchange of Practices aimed at creating a thematic network for sharing experience on different topics in the area of integration of disadvantage people. The project developed a collection of good practices dealing with the integration of migrants and refugees, disabled people, NEETs and elderly and providing successful models for raising their skills and supporting their economic and social integration. The project objectives covered:-To establish a thematic network for sharing experience on different topics in the area of integration of disadvantage people -To improve the quality of the educational opportunities offered to disadvantaged people and raise their skill levels in a wide variety of sectors-To support disadvantaged people in their economic and social integration-To enhance the exploitation potential of existing educational projects focused on integration of various disadvantaged groupsThese objectives were achieved through the development of a Toolbox of 75 tools, initiatives and good practices for integration of migrants and refugees, disabled people, NEETs and elderly people from the partner countries and beyond, which are made available on the project website (www.erfalproject.eu). The Toolbox development and information included was continuously communicated with relevant stakeholders dealing with the integration of disadvantaged people. The project website registered 6,000 visitors since its launch.ERFAL used the methodology of the BarCamp participatory workshops where information and experiences are shared through different means and formats. A total of 4 BarCamp workshops were organised under the project, each one dealing with a specific topic related to the integration of disadvantaged people, and namely:-First BarCamp: Integration of migrants and refugees-Second BarCamp: Integration of disabled people-Third BarCamp: Integration of NEETs-Fourth BarCamp: Integration of elderly peopleDuring the workshops each participant presented a good practice dealing with the topic in question in diverse forms – presentations, educational games, national and European initiatives and projects for integration and education of disadvantaged people, first-hand people experiences, mobile applications, videos, educational digital technologies, etc. During the implementation of the project, the ERFAL partners created a network of 54 organisations and hundreds of individuals from the area of integration of disadvantaged people and used them for input and feedback at different project stages. The ERFAL outcomes were spread to relevant stakeholders within two rounds of national workshops aimed at exchanging experience on methods and opportunities for the integration of disadvantaged people. A total of 505 target group representatives participated in 24 workshops organised in the 9 partner countries. The ERFAL project was widely disseminated within 184 dissemination events reaching nearly 8,000 people; thousands more were reached through online dissemination and different informational platforms. In December 2018, the ERFAL project was awarded a Certificate for quality implementation of a project at an official ceremony during the annual valorization conference of the Bulgarian National Agency.

<< Background >>The current situation in educational institutions in Eurozone is influenced by the evolving digital technologies to which the institutions need to adapt to. Therefore, digital transformation through the development of digital readiness, resilience, and capacity is an important topic nowadays.Digitalization in the workplace rapidly changes job requirements, today’s vocational education and training (VET) teachers need to equip their students not just with vocational skills but also with strong digital and soft skills. These skills are crucial in every workplace and essential for the use of technology. Innovations and digital transformation are highly needed in vocational education and training. Those factors are also directly connected to the quality of an educational institution. The competent and motivated teachers/trainers in combination with innovative and high-quality educational institutions is a key to the success of the whole society. To become high quality, innovative, continuously improving, learning organization it is essential to learn from each other and learn from the best (benchmarking/benchlearning). Continuous improvement requires a clear commitment to learning.Smart educational organizations are Learning organizations, where people are constantly developing and improving in the excellence culture of the organization. The organization itself is evolving continuously, understanding the strong and week areas and learning from others and the best. Suppose the benchmarking (learning from each other) is performed under a certain framework, which gives much better results and broadens the diverse opportunities for benchmarking to other sectors.Nowadays, VET institutions are struggling with the process of learning from each other, and there is not existing a solid framework that connects excellent educational organization principles with teachers/trainers development concept and learner/student-centred approach. Institutions find it difficult to search for benchmarking/benchlearning opportunities, and there does not exist such a comprehensive framework giving a base for learning from each other.Our project's main aim is to combine those methodologies into one holistic framework and develop a benchmarking base for learning and sharing.KNOWLO project aims to build a more modern, dynamic, committed, and professional environment inside the educational organizations, where people have greater understanding and responsiveness to all kinds of diversity, e.g., social, ethnic, linguistic, gender, improve their digital and professional competencies, and as a result, increased motivation and satisfaction in daily work.KNOWLO system is building the future of Learning organization by: 1.Providing the methodological framework of the smart organizations 2.Providing the self-evaluation tool (on a personal/organizational level) to evaluate the learning organization potential and the personal competence in this field3.Providing systematic guideline on how to benchmark, learn and share with others out of the original organization (on a local/ European level)4.Proceeding with this systematic learning and sharing in the online environment as well as in the real one5.Allowing being a part of the vast benchmarking database and comparing with others6.Giving opportunity to learn from the catalogue of best practices, tools and materials collectedAs a result, we expect that our holistic approach will impact Quality teaching, Quality tools, methods, and materials for innovative teaching and learning, and Quality environments for teaching and learning. The trainers and teachers will have a chance to see the new aspects of the educational organizations and to learn and share with others. Teachers ' continuous professional development is the essential part of the content because innovative and open-minded educators are the essence of success.<< Objectives >>KNOWLO project main aim is a transformation of an educational institution to SMART Learning organization, while supporting the learning/sharing process between organizations and people.On the general level, KNOWLO project targets several objectives:The main objectives of KNOWLO project are:1.Boost the innovative potential in vocational education2.Provide a new and innovative system and methodology for training/learning and sharing which can stimulate vocational education, adult education 3.To provide the possibility to think out of the box by sharing/learning innovative ideas and methods from other types of educational organizations (universities, elementary schools, private adult education providers, etc.)4.Help the educational organizations create an environment of excellence and become the Learning organizations5.Enhance the human capital in Learning organizations6.Help the Learning organizations to network with other similar thinking organizations across EuropeAnd the specific objectives related to project results are:Product-related objectives:1.To organize the self-assessment tool (on a personal/organizational level) to evaluate the learning organization potential and the personal competence in this field2.Provide the systematic guideline how to benchmark, learn and share with others out of the original organization (on local/ European level)3.To proceed with this systematic learning and sharing in the online environment as well as in the real one4.Be part of the comprehensive benchmarking database and compare with others5.Learn from the catalogue of best practices, tools and materials collectedManagerial and organizational objectives•To organize 5 project meetings and 19 online meetings•To prepare a Quality assurance plan and Dissemination and exploitation plan•To collect management, quality and dissemination reports every 6 months•To reach 20 trainers/technicians or other experts working on the project•Prepare the Interim report and Final reportTarget audience and dissemination related objectives•To reach 140 Teachers/Trainers participating in survey, 20 School directors/Experts participating in survey and 20 HEI/VET students participating in survey•To reach 40 Teachers/Trainers testing self-assessment tool, 20 School directors/Experts testing self-assessment tool and 20 HEI/VET students testing self-assessment tool •To reach 40 Teachers/Trainers testing platform with integrated results, 20 School directors/Experts and 20 HEI/VET students testing platform with integrated results •To reach 300 users registered on the platform and 70 organizations represented on the platform •To collect 15 Best practices for sharing and 50 methodologies and other resources •To create 2 eLearning modules in English, 8 eLearning modules in total •To reach 20 trainers and technician involved during the development of the project •To organize 6 multiplier events with 270 participants•To organize 2 LTTA with 36 participants•To attend/organize 10 regional events, workshops & seminars •To attend 10 international meetings, events, conferences and exhibitions •To create 6 newsletters•To reach amount of 3000 newsletter recipients •To reach 1000 Visitors on project website •To reach 10000 Visitors on partners websites •To reach 100 Social Media Visibility: amount of posts •To reach 20000 Social Media Visibility: impact •To publish 7 continuous press releases, press work & publications (Mass Media) •To reach amount of 100 of VET schools interested •To reach 20 other stakeholders / policy makers /experts interested in project •To reach 3 other stakeholders / policy makers /experts interested in project •To reach 1300 direct participants in activities (ME, pilot testing, registration on platform, local events) •In 5 years time to reach 700 users and 250 schools using the products - registered on platform, 700 VET teachers,1000 of VET teachers and other experts interested in the products, 250 VET schools<< Implementation >>KNOWLO project partnership we see the project activities on 3 main levels:1. Project management 2. Project implementation cycle-related activities, and 3. Dissemination and exploitationProject managementProject partnership will use the agile management approach to be effective, flexible, and can react to unpredictable situations. Project management will be coordinated by the project coordinator ICC and followed by the rest of the partnership. Specific responsibility will be the Quality management, where Eurofortis IT will take the lead.M.1Contract, formal reporting, and financial managementM.2Operational project managementM.3Quality plan preparation M.4Regular monthly video meetingsM.5Regular project financial monitoring (once in 6 months)M.6Regular project quality monitoring (once in 6 months)Together 5 project meetings will be organized in all project countries, 1 project meeting in each.TPM1Kick-off meeting in LatviaTPM2Project meeting in SlovakiaTPM3Project meeting in the Czech RepublicTPM4Project meeting in ItalyTPM5Final project meeting in LatviaProject implementation cycle-related activitiesProject lifetime activities will be organized into 5 results while several projects’ results will be running simultaneously. Each project result will be led by different partners chosen accordingly to their expertise. CU as the experienced content leader, will be responsible for the results on a generic level. All project partners will cooperate on the content together while some of them will have some specific roles additionally: Eurofortis IT will be the lead technical partner, Harmony academy will be the expert on SMART learning organization methodology, EURORESO will be the leading validation partner.Project implementation can be divided into five project results:1.R1 - Methodological framework for SMART Learning organizations2.R2 - Self-evaluation tool for the VET schools/educational organizations as the learning organizations – Eurofortis IT will be the lead partner, others take part3.R3 - Learning and sharing platform with SMART TOOLKIT - Eurofortis IT will be the lead partner, others take part4.R4 - Learning and sharing resource database – ICC takes the lead, others take part5.R5 - Guidelines for the SMART Learning organizations – HARMONY is the leader, others take partDissemination and exploitationEURORESO as the experienced project partner and the network of more than 60 organizations from vocational training and other sectors is the most relevant to lead the dissemination on the project partnership level. All the partners will focus on dissemination activities as one of the project priorities. The dissemination and exploitation activities will be organized at local, national, and international levels.D.1Development of Dissemination and Exploitation PlanD.2Dissemination monitoring, controlling, and reporting D.3Project branding and creation of dissemination materialsD.4Dissemination in regional events, workshops & seminars D.5Dissemination on international meetings, events, conferences, and exhibitionsD.6Online seminars/webinarsD.7Email campaigns and newslettersD.8Project website, platform, and partners websitesD.9Social media and podcast apps (Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, etc.)D.10Continuous press releases, press work & publications (Mass Media)D.11Networking with other interested organizationsD.12Erasmus + Dissemination PlatformD.13Dissemination via eTwinnings and School Educational GatewayD.14Extending the dissemination activities to at least 3 other EU regions6 Multiplier events will take place. 4 of them will be face-to-face events, 1 will be strictly online and the Final conference in Latvia will be combining face-to-face and online event. Schola Empirica, an experienced organization in organizing events, will be responsible for ME in general. Learning and sharing event in Latvia, Slovakia, Czech rep., Italy, online event and Final conference.<< Results >>KNOWLO partnership aims to develop a complex solution that can create a much more robust and valuable effect than just developing independent products.PROJECT RESULTS R1 - Methodological framework for SMART Learning organizationsA specific framework for SMART learning organizations will be developed while covering:•Learn&Lead developmental concept•Model of excellent organizations (EFQM Model)•ULCA framework (Lerner-centred approach)•Different aspects of diversity (Age, Gender, Health and disability, Language, Ethnic and religious background, etc.)•OECD recommendations (Teachers and leaders inVocational Education and Training)•EC recommendations •Key teachers/trainers competencesThe new framework will be the fundamental methodological pillar for the project and later will be used for the development of the following results:R2 – R6 – SMART Learning/sharing approach for SMART Learning organizationsThe project aims to create a highly practical, comprehensive methodology navigating teachers/trainers and management staff of their organizations step by step to become a learning organization, use the current potential to the fullest. It will also guide organizations in learning from each other, learning from the best, and sharing the best practices. -R2 - Self-evaluation tool for the VET schools/educational organizations as the learning organizations - the organization can perform their self-assessment against the project developed model of SMART Learning organization- the self-assessment is designed on two levels – personal and organizational-R3 - Learning and sharing platform with SMART TOOLKIT – after finishing the self-assessment, organizations will be ready to perform learning/sharing activities using the developed online platform- part of the platform will also be the e-learning explaining the methodology and basics for successful learning/sharing-R4 - Learning and sharing resource database – this database will be a supportive tool for organizations to gather additional important information and tools for performing learning/sharing activities- the are 50 good practices and tools presented in the database planned, which offers the users wide opportunities-R5 – Guidelines for the SMART Learning organizations – the practical and valuable guideline will lead the organizations step by step on their way to becoming a SMART Learning organization and performing learning/sharing activities- downloadable in pdf format, it will be easily accessible and usable for any educational institutionKNOWLO system is a holistic solution connecting several products: R3 – Learning sharing platform, where will be integrated:•R2 Self-evaluation tool for the VET schools/educational organizations •R4 Learning and sharing resource database•R5 Guidelines for the SMART Learning organizationTo develop the successful holistic solution, the initial research and development of the methodology R1 will be organized in all partner countries. This will be unique research focusing on existing methodologies and frameworks suitable for SMART schools (Learning organisations of 21st cent).