A high percentage of learners in IVET are disadvantaged and often lack the soft skills that would be taken for granted by a potential employer. A work-based learning abroad offers invaluable and challenging learning opportunity for disadvantaged vocational learners. A traineeship abroad for a young person faced with disadvantages, could prove to be a life changing learning opportunity, that can lift them up on a level field with their peers in a competitive labour market. A work-based learning mobility can offer young people not only vocation related competence, but can also significantly raise of their aspirations, confidence and motivation.However, when it comes to host companies, the partners have identified a lack of capacity of their staff to offer high quality work-based learning for disadvantaged students. On the other hand, many of the companies and their staff lack understanding upon the EU vision with VET mobilities. Furthermore, the standard documents already developed for VET mobilities do not meet the needs of disadvantaged students. All of these challenges and needs were addressed by the project “Quality+” that aimed at strengthening the quality of work-based learning of VET traineeships, in particular, undertaken by disadvantaged students enrolled in Initial Vocational Education and Training (IVET). The project developed two intellectual outputs that strengthen the quality of work-based learning mobilities and enhance their value towards the sending institutions, students, host companies, as well the donor: 1) Project Management Standards, including 10 standards; 2) Stakeholder Engagement Kit, including 7 instruments. The intellectual outputs were developed based on 7 factors that create value in donor-funded projects and aim at tackling the gaps of the existing project management standards and tools developed for VET mobilities. During the project 292 VET stakeholders were reached through research and quality control activities, 267 VET stakeholders were reached through physical and online multiplier events and least 5468 VET stakeholders were reached through dissemination activities. At least 64 VET schools across Europe showed engagement to use the intellectual outputs developed through the project. Depending on the development of the Covid-19 pandemic, the partners plan to use the intellectual outputs in at least 614 mobilities of VET learners in 2022.

UMJ achieved its intended goals by producing a set of outputs that offer support to practitioners and young people. The outputs developed help young people to recognise and reflect upon their soft skills development more effectively. 7 partners that had never worked together previously, collaborated on all project outputs. The result was a partnership that had a diverse range of skills with access to a broad target group. Partners engaged with young people through various interventions, including mobility, training, volunteering and entrepreneurship programmes. The tools developed offer support to both young people and practitioners and offer maximum impact in terms of soft skills development that can be quantified upon. The objectives set by the project were to, improve young people’s engagement with and ownership of their soft skills development, increase young people's employability, to raise awareness of the importance of soft skills development. The objectives were achieved with the production of 4 intellectual outputs. Due to the Covid19 pandemic the partnership requested and were granted a 3 month project extension. The extension resulted in the project running for a total of 34 months. With the withdrawal of the Spanish partner the partnership consisted of 7 partners. The outputs developed were:IO 1: Research carried out by all partners that focused on the relevance of soft skills in all partner countries. Partners held focus groups with young people and practitioners in all partner countries, 115 young people across the partnership took part in focus groups along with 124 practitioners. This led to the identification of the most important and relevant soft skills for young people, in terms of personal and professional development. There were 8 soft skills identified; Positive Attitude, Communication, Adaptability, Time & Energy Management, Work Ethic, Problem Solving & Analytical Thinking, Teamwork, Leadership.IO 2: Following the identification of the 8 soft skills partners developed and produced a Paper Based Toolkit. The Toolkit is mainly intended for young people who are already involved in some kind of activity or project, such as study, youth volunteering projects, work experience or employability training. By trying out techniques, young people can increase their level of the soft skills and gain in self-confidence. The toolkit contains reading materials and exercises for the young person to work through. Each Toolkit section has been piloted by young people and practitioners to determine its effectiveness and usefulness. The piloting took place across each partner country throughout the summer of 2019. The Toolkit was piloted with 123 young people and 25 practitioners. The Toolkits are available to download from the project website and are available in 6 partner languages. IO 3: A web based app was developed in order to digitalize the materials developed in IO2. The app consists of the 8 soft skills previously identified. Each soft skill takes the shape of a different mountain and the goal is that as the young person works through each soft skill they will in theory be reaching each mountain top. The app was piloted in each of the partner languages between December 2019 and January 2020. The app was piloted with 110 young people across the partnership. The link to the app is accessible via the project website. It is recommended that the app be used in conjunction with the paper toolkit although it is possible to use it as a standalone tool. The app links to PDF’s from the toolkit.IO 4: A practitioner guide was developed to support those working with the young person in order to fully understand how to introduce IO2 and IO3. The practitioner guide was piloted simultaneously with IO3. The guide was piloted with 22 practitioners across the partnership.Five transnational meetings took place. Ireland the UK, Croatia, Italy, and Portugal. The final meeting was held on zoom as opposed to Greece, due to the pandemic. The meetings created a space to collaborate and to discuss the development of the outputs, multiplier events, and the sustainability post project. Large amounts of the project dissemination was delivered through social media networks with the project Facebook page uploading approximately one post per week for the last six months of the project. Email was another channel used for disseminating the project work. As the in-person events were not an option online opportunities were used to share the project tools with guidance practitioners and young people across all partner countries and more widely at European level. Through seven multiplier events partners disseminated the project tools. Six of the ME’s took place after the IO’s were finalised which resulted in all output results presented and demonstrated to 177 participants across the partnership. Two of the multiplier events took place online due to the pandemic. The project produced four Newsletters.

Soft skills are recognized to be the success factor enabling individuals’ well-being, self-confidence, autonomy and responsibility, the fulfilment of education/social and professional lives, career development and higher income. However, the set of soft skills is often referred to be as non-measurable skills by conventional tests or exams, as they include a wide range of skills related to the individual mindset, such as: capacity building, learning to learn, persistence, resilience, creativity, self-discipline, self-reflectiveness, acting autonomously.Considering this, the VET_GPS was launch aiming at developing and presenting a wide set of tools, guides and materials addressed to trainees, VET managers, VET counsellors and VET trainers/teachers, fostering the holistic development of trainees. The project was focused on the trainees' soft skills acquisition, development and assessment, essential for their personal development, social participation and workplace success (holistic development).Involving 8 partners from 5 Portugal, Spain, Austria, Italy and Belgium, during the 26 months of the project, the consortium had the opportunity of structuring, testing and validating the following main results:• “Guide for the integration of the Soft Skills in VET offer” (EN, PT, ES, DE and IT) addressed to VET managers to support them in the definition of a strategy for the assessment and development of trainees’ soft skills.• “Soft skills self-assessment too”l (EN, PT, ES, DE and IT) – Online questionnaire to support young trainees in the assessment of the level of development of their soft skills.• “Success@work manual” (EN, PT, ES, DE and IT) – Addressed to trainees, providing 25 activities that can be easily implemented by them in different places, that can support them in the acquisition and/or strengthening of their soft skills; • “Soft Skills Profile” (EN, PT, ES, DE and IT) - A structured interview scheme for counsellors to support them in the communication and explore of the trainees’ results from the questionnaire mentioned above.• “Training course for VET Professionals” (EN, PT, ES, DE and IT) – Allowing them to develop knowledge and competences to integrate strategies and activities in their sessions/schools, fostering the assessment and development of trainees’ soft skills, according to the project’s methodology.• “Youth Empowerment Handbook” (EN, PT, ES, DE and IT) - Designed to inspire and support VET trainers in the identification and definition of practices and activities to be implemented in their daily classes, fostering the assessment and development of trainees’ soft skills.• Quality Framework for the Cooperation in VET System (EN, PT, ES, DE and IT) - Document with quality standards and examples of good practices for the establishment, reinforcement and maintenance of VET-Business Cooperation in the VET system.All these materials were prepared, tested and validated by VET managers, counsellors, trainers and trainees at the national level and are available for download in the project’s website - https://www.vetgps.eu/ - in English, Portuguese, Spanish, German and Italian.

In the context of high youth unemployment rate in EU, VET with a strong WBL component is a mean of enhancing the employment opportunities of youth. It is estimated that the demand for work-based trainers and educators will still continue to increase, and yet there is no single qualification that brings together the range of skills that these professionals need. Significantly, many occupationally and technically competent staff members are also being asked to support learning in the workplace, as tutors or trainers, and as mentors to apprentices, but not all are being supported in developing their personal skills to allow them to do this effectively. WBL-PRO aimed to create, pilot and mainstream a new job profile for the WBL Professional in a transparency approach, i.e. through the application of EQF and ECVET, detailing the specific knowledge, skills, responsibility and autonomy necessary to promote, guide, assist, facilitate and assess effective WBL experiences. The EU WBL Professionals are endowed with an online platform for training purposes offering: a sound understanding of theoretical perspectives which underpin WBL and offer justification for its place in the curriculum; a skill base which will allow them to deploy a range of facilitation, learning and assessing methodologies when supporting students, assuring quality in WBL delivery and facilitating the recognition of learning outcomes; and a content-based toolbox, meant as a repository of relevant best practices and tools collected from sharing and mutual learning activities among the countries involved. WBL-PROFESSIONAL.EU is a One Stop Virtual Space for WBL Services– an innovative online platform with open educational resources. All the Intellectual Outputs of the project are uploaded and implemented on and via the platform - Intellectual Outputs: WBL Pathways Research and Analysis Report (O1), WBL Professional Job Profiles (O2), WBL Professional Qualification Manual (O3), WBL-PRO Toolkit (O5), WBL Professionals Peer Network and Top 12 Empower Talk Movies Panel (O6). WBL Professionals can enhance the employability perspectives of young adults by: facilitating learning at work, linking learning, teaching and assessing in VET and CET and work-based learning; assessing the learning of work-based students in a view of recognising learning outcomes and assuring quality control and assurance of WBL programmes. The project goals were in compliance with the program priorities for innovating and increasing the quality and range of VET, including the production and adoption of OERs in diverse European languages.The project team included 10 organizations from 6 European countries: CIAPE, USRV and SCALIGERA (Italy), ANESPO and ISQ (PT), EMCRA and VHS im Lkrs. Cham (DE), BFE (Bulgaria), UEM (ES) and Biedriba Eurofortis (Latvia). The partners possess outstanding expertise and experience and the synergy of their professionalism, pro-activeness and commitment to high quality performance, teamwork in the spirit of cooperation, mutual respect and support was the solid basis for the successful implementation of the project idea.The activities included: management, coordination and monitoring activities; activities dedicated to the production of the Intellectual Outputs and achieving the set objectives and outcomes and activities for dissemination, exploitation and provision of sustainability.The envisaged impact for the first main target group - the young adults is their better employability. The impact for the second target group - tutors, trainers, assessors and those who design, develop, facilitate, support, deliver and assess learning at work is that they are able to improve the quality and widen the scope of the services they offer and thus improve their managerial skills and enhance their pro-activeness and sense of initiative.The whole society including the stakeholders, employers, representatives from VET organisations, etc. as indirect target group of the WBL-PRO project can benefit from the innovative and practical solutions to some of the most challenging nowadays problems. The main impact of the successful implementation of the project for the society is the reinforced interaction between practice, learning and policy. The dissemination activities were designed ad hoc for the new virtual generation and to promote the WBL-PROFESSIONAL.EU platform. All members of the strategic partnership expressed commitment to contribute with their networks of partners and professional contacts in their countries and across Europe for the dissemination, multiplication and mainstreaming of the project's outputs and outcomes. All projects partners were strongly committed that the WBL-PROFESSIONAL.EU and all Intellectual Outputs will be maintained and utilized for at least 5 years beyond the funded period.