In 2010, a number of European engineering associations, under the auspices of the European Federation of National Engineering Associations, FEANI, launched the introduction of a European Professional Card for engineers.Since then, the Engineering Card has increased transparency with regard to engineering qualifications within the European Higher Education Area (EHEA), in that way actively promoting professional mobility. It is therefore an important element in the system of professional recognition established by the EU.The Engineering Card is subject to an ongoing process of further development. Taking into consideration that the importance of non-formal and informal learning outcomes has steadily increased in recent years, the idea emerged to adapt the Engineering Card to current trends, thereby enhancing its utility for engineers and companies alike in Europe. The key objective was to facilitate acquisition and validation of objectives acquired during the course of non-formal and informal learning by engineers within the system of the Engineering Card.VDI- The Association of German Engineers as the largest technical-scientific association in Europe has functioned as coordinator of the project. In addition to the European Federation of National Engineering Associations (FEANI), national engineering associations from Croatia (HIS), Slovenia (ZID) and the Czech Republic (CSVTS) were included as partners. In addition, the University of Porto (U.PORTO) has contributed its expertise as an outstanding research institution in the fields of engineering education and further training. All partners have extensive experience in project work, particularly in engineering and further training.The main activities during the project runtime can be divided into two main sections: The project’s core focus was the multi-stage development of an overall approach to documentation and validation of non-formal and informally acquired learning objectives. This was followed by an implementation phase, which included the technical integration of the plan in the form of a fully functional prototype in the existing VDI database.The first phase began with a comprehensive, systematic, state-of-the-art analysis at national and international level. During this process, the systems for documentation and validation of competence and learning objectives - technical and non-technical - that already exist were identified. Afterwards an analysis of these systems took place, in order to extract those elements suited to this project based on a best practice approach. These were then adapted to the specific abilities and learning outcomes of engineers so that the final version of the plan contains a documentation and validation system based on proven tools and methods that account for those requirements specific to the engineering environment.Following the plan’s completion, the implementation phase commenced. The first step was to draft a manual describing the entire process of application and processing in the context of the Engineering Card. This manual establishes a framework in terms of criteria, process and methodology and is in English. Based on the draft of the manual, a draft of “requirements and procedural principles” was subsequently prepared. These internal documents form a guideline for the employees of branch offices in the individual countries who are responsible for the specific application processing. These guidelines are written in the respective national languages.At the same time that the manual and guidelines were being developed, the technical implementation of the plan’s design took place. The transitioning of the future Engineering Card database from plan to prototype was executed in cooperation with the VDI IT experts, who had also been responsible for the development of the original database. As a result, a platform has been created that includes all new developments in addition to the previous functions. It is possible to transfer data to the existing databases of the partner organizations since they are based on the original VDI database.Throughout the process, coordination with the other FEANI member organizations was particularly important. In addition, the dissemination of information on the project played a significant role within the engineering community. Equally important was obtaining feedback from companies in industry.Overall, the development of a plan for the documentation and validation of learning objectives by engineers has been successful. This includes integration into the existing database. However, further measures are necessary to raise awareness about the product in the engineering community as well as in business and politics in order for the Engineering Card to become a recognized transparency and mobility aid in the long term.

- Context and background of the projectMany EU member states are experiencing an increasing ‘skills mismatch’ in STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics). This mismatch has both a quantitative dimension (shortages of STEM skilled people) and qualitative dimension (mismatch between the skills of recent graduates and the needs of employers).Several EU member states have addressed this problem through developing national STEM strategies and / or dedicated organisations for their implementation and coordination (‘STEM platforms’) and implementation programmes. The strategies and implementation vary widely from country to country but typically rely on the close cooperation between the ‘triple helix’ of government, industry and education providers, increased coordination between education sectors (from primary education to the labour market) and a strongly regionalised, ‘bottom-up’ approach. In recent years, an increasing number of countries and regions are actively developing strategies and approaches aimed at reducing skills mismatch in STEM. Consequently, there is a rapidly increasing demand for insights in how similar problems are tackled in other countries, as well as for direct support in the development of these approaches. The project aimed to upscale an informal partnership between the STEM platforms of the Netherlands, Denmark and Estonia (the EU STEM Coalition) in a functional support mechanism for the development, improvement and upscaling of national and regional STEM strategies, platforms and approaches. The main objectives of the project were:(1) Facilitate best-practice sharing between existing national STEM platforms(2) Support the development of new national and regional STEM strategies, platforms and approaches.The project partners consisted of three STEM platforms (Netherlands, Denmark (2), Estonia), three national partners that aimed to develop a national STEM platform (France, Greece and Hungary) and three European partners representing relevant groups of stakeholders (ThinkYoung, FEANI, CSR Europe). The main activities of the project included: (1) periodic General Assembly (GA) meetings, bringing together the entire network. These meetings were mainly focused on best practice sharing around a specific theme (e.g. impact assessment, link between research and education practices, etc.), and (2) Taskforce Meetings (TM): targeted (series) of support actions aimed at the development of new STEM strategies, platforms and programmes. The meeting format varied greatly, ranging from one-day work visits to longer series of 'taskforces' bringing experts from multiple countries together to support the development of new strategies. (3) Web-portal: This portal aimed to aggregate and structure relevant information on national and regional approaches, primarily to be used during Taskforce MeetingsThe project achieved its main objectives and contributed to the development of new national STEM strategies (e.g. Danish Technology Pact based on the Dutch Technology Pact), STEM platforms (e.g. Hungarian STEM platform) and programmes (e.g. Jet-Net programme in the Basque country). Several additional initiatives supported by the project are still under development (e.g. Norwegian Technology Pact, Bulgarian STEM platform).More generally, the project delivered an active, well-structured network for best practice sharing and direct support, as evidenced by the growing number of support requests which are still ongoing. This is also evidenced by the growing number of members of the EU STEM Coalition (since its launch, STEM platforms and partners from Norway, Switzerland, Finland, Romania, Spain, United Kingdom, France, Germany, Bulgaria, Turkey and Ukraine have joined the network, including national ministries, regional governments, innovation agencies, industry-driven initiatives and relevant EU-level networks. Finally this is highlighted by the participation of high level policy makers in General Assembly meetings (including the ministers of education of France and Hungary), several nationally-focused side-events that were organised by host countries aimed at improving coordination on a national level, and the broad and growing use of the dataportal and communication channels.On the EU-level the succeeded in highlighting and promoting its approach and was included in the European Commission’s ‘Communication on a Renewed EU Agenda for her Education’ and was consequently in several high-level forums like the Directors-General meetings of several EU presidencies and fact-finding seminars of BusinessEurope, etc.

In todаy’s еconomy аnd sociеty, еnginееring is ubiquitous. Thеrе is аn еnginееr bеhind еvеry product аnd sеrvicе thаt wе usе or dеploy in our dаily livеs. Еnginееrs аrе cruciаl for innovаtion, for еconomic growth аnd for solving hеаlth аnd еnvironmеntаl chаllеngеs.In thе ЕU, thе еnginееring profеssion is confrontеd with structurаl chаngеs аnd skill mismаtchеs with incrеаsing gаps in trаnsvеrsаl skills, so high in dеmаnd by еmployеrs. It is а chаllеngе to ovеrcomе thе distаncе bеtwееn thе worlds of еducаtion аnd work. Officiаl ЕU policy documеnts аnd intеrnаtionаl rеsеаrch corroborаtе thosе chаllеngеs аnd idеntify а shortаgе of “sociаlly drivеn еnginееrs”, chronicаlly nееdеd to mееt ЕU tаrgеts for 2030 аnd 2050.Thе objеctivе of Е4Е is - gеаrеd by thе nеw rеquirеmеnts of thе world of work - to prеpаrе bеttеr еquippеd еnginееrs through thе аcquisition of nеw compеtеncеs, covеring nеw knowlеdgе, аttitudеs аnd lеаdеrship skills whilе focusing on digitаl, grееn, rеsiliеnt аnd innovаtivе еntrеprеnеurship. Е4Е will bridgе thе gаp bеtwееn еducаtion аnd industry, whilе opеrаtionаlising ЕU compеtеncе frаmеworks (DigComp, LifеComp, ЕntrеComp) for еnginееrs.Е4Е’s аctivitiеs, аnd thеir outputs, аrе to:1. Еstаblish thе Еnginееring Skills Council, а multistаkеholdеr ЕU plаtform for еnhаncеd diаloguе/collаborаtion bеtwееn rеprеsеntаtivеs of еducаtion, trаining, industry аnd еmployеrs2. Dеsign а monitoring mеthodology to gаugе thе dynаmics, chаllеngеs аnd opportunitiеs of thе еnginееring profеssion, culminаting in thе yеаrly Еnginееring Skills Strаtеgy3. Dеvеlop & dеlivеr thе Е4Е Curriculum, аn innovаtivе trаining for trаnsvеrsаl compеtеncеs аnd skillsWith 11 Full Pаrtnеrs аnd 12 Аssociаtеd Pаrtnеrs, Е4Е is а robust Аlliаncе, rеprеsеnting thе wholе spеctrum of VЕT, HЕ, industry. Е4Е will еngаgе аt lеаst 700 lеаrnеrs viа trаining; 1150 prаctitionеrs аnd stаkеholdеrs through thе Е4Е Roаd Show аnd Еvеnts аcross ЕU, аnd а totаl of 86.750 pеoplе through valorisation activities.

The PREFER project (Professional Roles and Employability of Future EngineeRs) aims to reduce the skills mismatch in the field of engineering: new engineering graduates frequently display a lack of transversal skills required by the labour market. Enterprises observe a lack of self-awareness among new engineering graduates of who they are as an engineer and what their strengths are. Despite appropriate levels of technical skills, enterprises recruiting engineers often demand a more elaborated transversal skill set. The objectives of the PREFER project are threefold. First, we aim to construct a Professional Roles Framework wherein the different roles engineers can take on in the beginning of their career are described, independent of the engineering disciplines (e.g., electronics, chemistry, ..). Each role will be characterized with an associated set of transversal skills. Thereafter, a Test System will be developed in order to (1) increase engineering students’ awareness of the multitude of professional roles in engineering and (2) to make them reflect on their own engineering identity and their interests, strengths and weaknesses. Third, we will explore how to implement these innovative tools into the engineering curriculum by running a number of pilots in the participating universities. This will result in a modern learning environment that ensures that people can develop their own talent in full on the basis of informed study and career choices.In order to reach the PREFER objectives, a well-balanced consortium is constructed. Three leading engineering education institutions (Katholieke Universiteit Leuven, Delft University of Technology and Dublin Institute of Technology) and three multinationals with large experience in recruiting different profiles of engineers (Engie, Siemens and ESB), are involved. In order to develop reliable and valid test material, an experienced test development partner (BDO) is a member of the team. And finally, we will guarantee a