"This project is relevant because all four partner countries send a lot of students abroad every year, but we all have different ways of preparation/coaching students, who want to go abroad. It provides some different expectations of all the parties. Sometimes it creates misunderstandings and frustration for stakeholders. When we have the same frame of reference as a common toolkit, all stakeholders will understand each other better and our students will feel more secure and confident and better equipped and also having a feeling of being more professional when they take an internship abroad. Students will be more confident with their objectives, they have an idea of what is expected of them from the internships.The project is innovative because the outcome involves participants from internships/ labour market, employers and students during the process of this strategic partnership and also after the expiry of the EU funding. The new element is that we establish a local student board to hear their views and experiences on how this toolkit works best. The student board is an equal partner and is participating and giving feedback. The students will bring their opinions and also act as a pilot in the project in two levels (locally/nationally and internationally)The main objective of this project is to improve the preparation proces for students who want to go abroad in internships in the collaborating countries. The project partners want to develop and to test a toolkit in a project period from September 2015 to spring 2018. Project partners consisting of four partner countries from Finland, The Netherlands, Estonia and Denmark (all VET schools/ colleges) and several assistant partners as local work placements /local internships will also participate in this project.- Finland´s representative is an ECVET expert. In addition, the Finnish school (Omnia) has for the last 2 years worked with ""Individual learning pathway"".- The Netherlands (Vitalis College): has a long experience working with innovative cooperation exercises and teamwork.- Estonia (Kuressaare Ametikool): Big experience in using information technology in teaching students in VET-programmes.- Denmark (SOSU Nord College): The teachers teach daily in innovative learning methods like: cooperative learning and ""Theatre of the oppressed"" (Forum Teater)A phased project model implements the project. The project is legally anchored in the applicant organization SOSU Nord where a steering committee has been established to ensure that the project is implemented according to the Danish rules for ERASMUS +.The coordinating group has divided the project activities in 6 phases.The six phases vill ensure coherence and clarity for all parties in the project. At each phase transition the coordinating group discusses whether the milestones are reached and weather activities are managed well. Then the group plans in detail the next phase. The steering committee approves the coordinating group´s coming things to do.The tangible result of the project will be a toolkit. The toolkit will be a flexible and dynamic open online platform. The project partners will ensure the existence of the toolkit after the expiry of the project period. It means that after the project, other VET schools with related internships in Europe have the opportunity to contribute and add materials and create databases and therefore the toolkit remains to the benefit of all European stakeholders. Activities related to the toolkit are the other intellectual outputs mentioned in this project. These intellectual outputs are essentials elements in the toolkit and they are connected to a lot of activities.One of the milestones is a beta version of the toolkit, which will be ready for the national pilot beginning 2017 and later on the toolkit will be fully functional for the international pilot (2018) Another milestone is (C1) Learning/Training Activities in innovative learning methods, for teachers only, which will support the project's objectives: ""Improving the preparation proces for students who want to go abroad in internships"". This training/learning activity is necessary for the project's results and further implementation.The final result = the toolkit will have a positive and enhancing impact of students´:- social skills- personal skills - foreign language skills - professional skillsThe project partners use an online web portal based on a CMS-System to create our toolkit, because it is a free web software. This is beneficial for the long term benefits of the project based on the assumption that there will be a greater chance of continuity and maintenance after the expiry of the EU funding. The final result of this project is sustainable because the online open toolkit will be relevant in the future because of its its relevance usefulness and function. Form and contents of the toolkit will probably change according to the needs and wishes of the future Europe."

<< Objectives >>The main objective of this project is to develop digital and relevant physical exercises skills for social workers employed at nursing homes and providing social care at senior own homes to achieve higher physical activity and better health of elderly population and reduce costs of ageing. Project results will be transnational improved online motion programme available in ENG, DK, EE and educational material for social workers for application of the programme in ENG, DK, EE.<< Implementation >>WP.1 Project Management and Implementation ( SeniorForm)WP2 - Dissemination & Communication (SeniorForm)WP3 - Methodological framework for education material for social workers (Lead: SOSU NORD)WP4. Pilot test workshops of the educational materials and teaching/training activities ( Lead Valga County Vocational Training Centre)WP5 - Evaluation and feedback (SeniorForm)<< Results >>There will be following project results:-transnational improved online motion programme for elderly citizens available in ENG, DK, EE - digital educational material for social workers for application of the motion programme as well as for strengthening digital and physiotherapists skills in ENG, DK, EE.Educational material will be integrated in the existent course material of Sosu Nord and Valgamaa Vocational School for adult learners to ensure sustainability of the project results.

<< Background >>The COVID-19 pandemic has highlighted the need for more and better digital learning solutions in vocational education and training. As VET providers have been forced to shift traditional classroom tuition to online alternatives, it has become apparent that digital learning environments often lead to lack of student motivation - or even disengagement and dropout - if the quality of design and implementation of these environments is not sufficiently high and motivation-boosting. And when access to work practise environments have been limited due to social distancing/virus transmission prevention regulations, the sector has been challenged to look for viable digital alternatives to replace or supplement traditional VET practise frameworks. With the project: D-LIGHT (Network Building for Digital Learning Innovation in Geriatric Healthcare Technology), our partnership of five countries, represented by five recognized centres of vocational excellence and their regional clusters of development partners, will address this issue head-on from a joint European perspective. We are convinced that many of the above digital challenges - and evolving VET skills needs in Geriatric Healthcare - are common and transnational by nature. And that the best high-quality solutions to these issues can be produced through international network co-operation, by joining resources to develop and apply joint European solutions across multiple national VET systems. Each regional cluster will comprise one Centre of vocational excellence, (min.) one Geriatric Healthcare Sector employment partner, and (min.) one partner specializing in development of advanced digital learning products.Another basic rationale for this project is our conviction, that every conclusion and Project Result we can establish and make available for the European VET Community on the basis of this project’s choice of the geriatric Healthcare VET Sector as test case, will have universal and crosse-sectoral relevance and applicability for VET development towards a digital age.We are inspired by the strategic focus on digital upskilling and VET school access to common digital resources underlined in the EC Digital Education Action Plan for 2021-27 and its goal of establishing a European Digital Education Hub. We are encouraged by the visions of regions as drivers of development inherent in the Smart Skills strategies and the envisioned school-to-labour-market co-operation leadership role expected of CoVEs. And we are driven by the OECD call for resilient VET solutions in the “VET in a time of Crisis” report.And on the practical level, we are determined to succeed when we see the current lack of facilities for VET schools to come together across European borders and, with their regional partners, establish the common needs that leads to synergies, cost-sharing and improved potential, and quality when schools need to build advanced digital learning solutions for all of the above reasons. Not alone – but together, because the needs are similar and we are partners in education, all across Europe. And by building solutions together, we are paving the way for future joint programmes or European VET curricula between us.In October 2020, our partnership applied for an ERASMUS+ KA2 grant at the KA226 – Partnerships for Digital Education Readiness on the basis of the above rationale but missed funding by a few evaluation points. For this present Call for Proposals, we have revised our project approach to match the present programme and call priorities, updated and improved our general project concept, addressed all areas of critical evaluator feedback from KA226, and in particular strengthened the dissemination and exploitation efforts to ensure a real project impact, beyond the participating regions and beyond the Healthcare VET Sector. We submit this application on the bask of a long-standing and renewed team collaboration and a firm partnership commitment to make a difference.<< Objectives >>The specific objective of our project implementation is to achieve a triple VALUE-CREATION for the project partnership co-operation, and a VALORIZATION of this created value for other VET schools, VET system stakeholders, and their regional level development partners, through showcasing, publication, and active dissemination of the project results generated.The VALUE we wish to achieve within the partnership is to build and validate1.A functional, efficient, and INNOVATIVE CLUSTER-BASED inter-regional co-operation partnership model - involving VET schools, employers, and digital learning solutions development resources - for joint identification of emerging VET skills needs and addressing of these needs by joint partnership development of digital learning solutions for common use by all regions.2. A FULLY DOCUMENTED BEST PRACTISE METHODOLOGY for international co-operation in developing advanced digital learning material together for common use, as a significant development efficiency improvement on the traditional practice of developing solutions for own use at each VET school or within each VET system separately. We want to share this Best Practise approach and train VET school teachers for increased capacity to enter similar transnational work processes, translating mutually relevant VET skills need into mutually developed digital learning solutions.3.A STRENGTHENED SYSTEMATIC ROLE OF VET EMPLOYMENT SECTOR REPRESENTATIVES IN VET SKILLS NEEDS ANALYSIS – involving both business and public sector organizations in communicating emerging, observed VET skills needs into a prepared cluster set-up led by Centre of Vocational Excellence (CoVE)-level VET providers, and take part in methodology- and cluster-based international needs comparison for identification of joint transnational relevance and addressing of the needs in question. The goal is that this process will add quality, reaction speed, and transnational validity to the VET skills needs analysis work of CoVEs with and within their employment sectors.We will use the project partnership to develop, showcase and document all of the above as one coherent and combined Best Practise approach to a) common and comparable identification of evolving vocational skills needs in Geriatric Healthcare in all involved partner countries b) identification of common, transnational skills needs, which are suitable for addressing by development of joint digital learning solutions for application in all involved partner countries c) development of blueprints for specific digital solutions to the above issues, incl. choice of media, technology, and specific product scripts for activation of developers d) production of showcase examples of advanced digital learning solutions for identified joint relevant VET skills needsThe resulting Best Practise Catalogue (see Project Outcomes – result O4) incl. Methodology Guidelines for each of the steps a) - d) will enable VET schools and their teachers across Europe to engage with sector employers and digital developers for similar dialogues re. development of digital learning solutions to evolving skills needs issues - and will aim to inspire other schools in all VET sectors to develop international cluster-based co-operation networks similar to the D-LIGHT network showcased for healthcare VET. We want to achieve cross-sector VALORIZATION by emphasizing the horizontal applicability and relevance of all developed Project Results and their included test cases and by adopting a pro-active approach to results dissemination and exploitation support. All results will be shared through all relevant platforms and the partnership will dedicate the last three months of the project period to provision of exploitation facilitation and support to interested VET sector stakeholders in the cluster regions, as well as among a Europe-wide target audience.See Annex 4 - Project LogFrame for the connection between objectives, results, and activities .<< Implementation >>For implementation of project D-LIGHT Network, we will carry out the following project activities:* 6 Partnership Events (PE1-PE6) of 3 days for all project Partners, with min. 1 PE hosted by each CoVE partner/in each regional partner cluster. Each PE will involve 3 participants per CoVE partner + representatives (for selected parts of the agenda) of cluster (associated) partners from the PE hosting cluster. Partnership event will be key milestone dates for launch and completion of Project Results production processes, as well as essential hands-on workshops for joint development of Project Results (O1-O5) inputs. This is particularly important for Project results O1 and O2 as these will be Methodology Guidelines representing co-operation methods and structures considered relevant by and for all partners/partner regions.* (min.) 18 online Partner Status Meetings for min. monthly activity progress monitoring. Called by SOSU Nord on the basis of the schedule included in the Annex 3 GANTT chart and included in the Timetable, each online status meeting will include progress updates, monitoring and evaluation inputs, upcoming activity planning, and any revisions to project plans requiring partner consensus.* 2 x 5 Regional Multiplier Events (E2-E11) of 1 day per event, for dissemination of Project Results (Methodologies O1 and O2) to min. 3 representatives from min. 5 VET schools per event from the relevant cluster region. After completion of O1 and O2, respectively, each cluster partnership will conduct a Regional Multiplier Event to disseminate the Methodology - and skills/inspiration to exploit it – to the listed target audiences for a total Project Results exposure to 75 teachers from 25 VET schools in the 5 participating regions.* 1 Teacher Training Programme (C1) of 3 days for 20 partner institution VET teachers. Implemented alongside PE5, this Programme will provide hands-on case-based training to teachers from all Health VET specialties of the partners, to ensure that this wider pool of trainers receive methodology knowledge and practical transnational Methodology application skills comparable to the key project team.* 1 Transnational Multiplier Event (E1) of 1 day for 60 ‘live’ and 100 online ‘virtual’ participants representing VET system and VET school management and covering dissemination of (primarily) Project Results 4 and 5. Implemented as part of PE6, the event will showcase Project Result 4 – Best Practise Catalogue, incl. its complete structure of process facilitation and inclusion of all other Project results produced (O1, O2, O3, and O5)* 5 Project Results Exploitation Facilitation and Support Webinars (E16-E16) with a scheduled duration of 1 hour per webinar, provided for a planned target audience of 250 VET Sector/School representatives across Europe. As part of the final 3-month Project Results Dissemination and Follow-up Phase, partners will proactively seek to engage and facilitate the exploitation of the published Project Results by the widest possible European VET sector audience.* 6 Designated Work Periods in Regional Clusters including specified inputs per cluster for regional, parallel contributions to development of Project Results 1-5. Covering the Interim Work Periods between PE’s, each work period includes specific tasks to be carried out by/in each regional cluster. For these tasks, each CoVE partner will engage and lead its cluster partners and communicate between clusters as required. Interim work period activities in clusters include Regional Multiplier events, designing and developing (incl. organization of subcontracted inputs) Digital Learning Solution showcase products, discussing and validating Project Results drafted at PE’s, and performing pro-active outreach to regional/national VET stakeholders for communication and dissemination of Project Results..See also Annex 2 – Project Implementation Plan, Annex 3 – Project GANTT Chart, and Annex 4 – Project LogFrame Matrix<< Results >>The tangible Project Results of our project will comprise:Project Result 1 (O1): One Methodology Guidelines Publication re. how to identify transnationally relevant emerging VET Skills needs for potential addressing by joint digital learning solutions development in a regional cluster-based transnational VET co-operation (disseminated to 15 regional VET teachers/region in 5 regions, published and disseminated for free sharing with the EU VET Community)Project Result 2 (O2): One Methodology Guidelines Publication re. how to translate (in a regional cluster-based transnational VET co-operation) identified emerging VET skills needs of joint relevance into a joint development basis for advanced digital learning solutions applicable to all partners (disseminated to 15 regional VET teachers/region in 5 regions, published and disseminated for free sharing with the EU VET Community)Project Result 3 (O3): One Teacher Training Programme of 3 days’ tuition for training VET teachers in conducting transnational joint VET skills needs analysis and identification of joint digital learning solutions basis (using the Results 1 and 2 Methodologies) - disseminated to 20 partner VET teachers, published, and disseminated for free sharing with the EU VET Community)Project Result 4 (O4): One comprehensive Best Practise Catalogue, compiling all other project results into one package, organized and mediated for dissemination and individual inspiration and exploitation of all project results by other VET sector stakeholders – disseminated to 160 participants at the Transnational Multiplier Event, published, and disseminated for free sharing with the EU VET Community Project Result 5 (O5): Five (limited scope) showcase example stand-alone Digital Learning Elements, each addressing a specific case presented in the Best Practise Catalogue, disseminated to 160 participants at the Transnational Multiplier Event, published, and disseminated for free sharing with the EU VET Community Reporting: One final Project Report incl. Project Communication, Implementation, and Dissemination Impact sub-reportsIn addition, we expect the project partnership to create the following additional OUTCOMES:• A much-strengthened co-operation structure and experience within and between the partners and their respective regional clusters• Digital upskilling of all involved partner staff• Engagement of additional VET providers from cluster regions for future cooperation, network integration, or separate Erasmus+ initiatives• Further development of the cluster partnerships to include additional partners from both employment and digital development expert side• New project and direct implementation development ideas among/between cluster partnersFinally, we expect the project to generate a wider IMPACT beyond the direct participants by…• Attracting other VET schools, groups/networks of VET schools, regional/national VET system administration/management representatives and EC strategy team representatives to download Project Results and consider outputs and conclusions from the project for full or partial implementation in their own strategic and practice contexts.• Attracting other Health VET schools for dialogue, and possible participation in further transnational skills needs analyses with the D-LIGHT Network partners.• Inspiring sector employment partners from other VET sectors to take on a more active co-operation role with CoVEs for efficient, transnational responses to emerging skills needs and training solutions.• Inspiring and encouraging other CoVEs to interpret their role in an (even) more transational context, and building their regional clusters accordingly.(see sections on ‘Impact’ and ‘Dissemination’ and Annex 2-4)Note: due to an error in the application form at the time of submission, all Transnational Partner Meetings are listed in the Timetable with a duration of 24 months from the (correct) staring date.