In 2017 more than two million young people in Spain were in poverty, almost two million in relative poverty (29.6%) and another 600,000 in severe poverty (9.5%), according to the Report on Youth Poverty in Spain of the Council of the Youth of Spain (Consejo de la Juventud de España). Likewise, the data shows that 37.6% of young people were in that same year at risk of social exclusion and that their geographic distribution is not homogeneous, but rather they are concentrated in certain rural or precarious areas.For these young people from disadvantaged areas at high risk of exclusion, the VET studies can be an effective and accessible way to improve their employability possibilities and build a better future becoming key agents for the development of new productive models in the EU.However, even getting a prestigious VET degree, aimed at professional training, does not ensure that these young people overcome their barriers, access to the market or provide them with real possibilities of emancipation.In spite of the obstacles that they have had to live, these young people can have a great motivation to overcome their barriers, contributing dynamism, enthusiasm and very important skills ... if they develop certain digital and scientific competences. However, to achieve inclusion these young people need support, which is why the VET STUDENTS İNTO TECHNOLOGY COMPANİES project is proposed with the aim of promoting the access of these VET students to the technological innovation sector.This project will include the realization of two intellectual results of great quality and great capacity for replication:- O1. ON YOUR SIDE: VIRTUAL ASSISTANT FOR EUROPEAN MOBILITIES IN TECHNOLOGICAL CENTERS. A digital educational software that will accompany the VET student at risk of exclusion, throughout the mobility process. This result will allow the students to feel protected during their mobility, find resources to help them when they have problems and feel that their teacher and tutor are with them, as well as maps of mobility destinations, the opportunities offered, as well as the culture of the region and linguistic tools. This assistant will also allow them to implement the collaborative work. - O2. CUSTOMIZED DIGITAL COURSE FOR LABOR TRAINING AT A TECHNOLOGICAL CENTER.The second intellectual result will consist of an innovative virtual structured course specifically oriented to the students to develop specifically the competences of the VET training curriculum related to the digital and technological field. In the event that the student participates in the proposed mobility, a personalized itinerary will be generated, adapted to the needs of the workplace where he / she will carry out the mobility, taking into account the characteristics of the student.The culmination of this project will be the creation of the PROGRAM OF TRAINING IN HIGH-TECH COMPANIES, a network of mobilities for students at risk of exclusion to carry out internships in technology companies. An opportunity for these young people not only to have a real job experience and put into practice everything they learned during their VET training and following the materials proposed by this network, but to promote a new emancipatory experience for them (living autonomously, managing their salary, knowing other cultures and generating healthy friendship networks with other European students) that helps them achieve their inclusion and motivates them to fight for a better future. The project will last 24 months, and in addition to 4 transnational meetings, various national activities for the creation of results, virtual activities, and a large multiplier event, 7 student mobilities to test the results created will be performed.High impact results, not only for students from disadvantaged areas, but also for VET centers (which will improve their internationalization and the opportunities of their students) and technology-based companies (which will access students trained specifically for the technology sector who have developed scientific thinking). But they also have a great capacity for transferability, generating tools that can help all students who participate in mobilities of the E + Program even if they are not part of the network of the technology sector.

"VET education offers a technical and specialized learning, aimed at successful labor insertion or the access to the labor market. However, although the VET students can continue with higher studies, this is rarely achieved due to the methodological gap between the two educational levels. In the case of students with fewer needs, these barriers are almost always insurmountable.For those VET students, the CRITICAL THINKING AS A STEP FORWARD İN VET EDUCATION project has been developed over two years. Through the joint work of an intersectoral strategic association formed by research centers, technology-based companies and VET centers, high quality materials were created. These results are able to promote the critical thinking and competencies of the students in VET education necessary for them to work in high-tech centers. But also, offering an orientation to the technological centers so that they are able to welcome and take advantage of people with this degree. The future perspective is to implement a system of work practices in high-performance centers abroad for students with difficulties in social inclusion or labor inclusion in the future.The system developed, based on the various results generated (especially intellectual results), is significantly promoting the employability of participating students, especially those with fewer opportunities, providing them with experience in a demanding work environment and improving their plans for study.Although the project was granted in the extraordinary resolution of December 2017. In 21 months a very participatory and effective international network has been generated, where four transnational meetings (Spain, Portugal, Greece, Czech Republic) and many and various performances have been made. The partners have been seven prestigious entities: IKASIA TECHNOLOGIES and UPV of Spain, SOMATICA and UNIVERSIDAD DO MINHO of Portugal, EKATI and TEI of Crete of Greece and CHARLES UNIVERSITY of the Czech Republic. Together with them, a large network of collaborating entities such as IES ENRIQUE TIERNO GALVÁN, IES POLITÉCNICO DE CARTAGENA, CIFP HESPERIDES and CE JUSTE.All of them have generated two high quality intellectual results such as:- O1. METHODOLOGICAL GUIDE FOR HIGH TECHNOLOGY CENTERS TO WELCOME PRACTICE OF VET STUDENTS. A guide aimed at high-tech centers participating in the TRAINING PROGRAM FOR TRAINING IN HIGH TECHNOLOGY CENTERS (FCT) for VET students. The result shows how students will learn and develop typical job functions within high-tech projects, and at the same time they will develop the critical thinking and STEM skills of VET students.- O2. CURRICULAR DEVELOPMENT FOR QUALITY AND INNOVATION IN VET CENTERS THROUGH THE SECTOR TRANSVERSAL COOPERATION. A result aimed at VET Centers that allows establishing ""critical thinking"" as an innovative methodology for VET learning through collaboration between VET centers, research centers and companies.Together with various tangible results such as example laboratory notebooks, dissemination materials, a training program for internships in high-tech centers and protocols, educational materials and scientific publications in the field of pedagogical innovation.In this project we have carried out a powerful dissemination phase that has included, in addition to the two proposed multiplier events (which had a great success of participation of media multiplier agents, political authorities, teachers ...), 3 Large Dissemination Activities and More than 25 dissemination activities of the project impacting in 22 countries where more than 80 entities and federations have participated, covering more than one hundred educational centers and companies.The impact has been very high because the edited materials are already being implemented in more than 10 educational centers and technology centers in Europe today. In addition, the ""TRAINING PROGRAM IN HIGH TECHNOLOGY WORK CENTERS"", which was to be implemented as of the end of this project, is already a reality having signed the agreements for the realization of the first practices in technological centers during the next 2019-2020 course.In addition, this impact will continue to grow and expand as the THINKING 4 VET CRITICAL NETWORK has been consolidated, which in addition to exploiting the results generated, is promoting new projects and spreading among new entities and countries. Our network has achieved direct impact in more than 20 countries and three new VET centers and 5 new high-tech centers are already part of it."

The severe COVID-19 pandemic has caused dire health, economic, social, and political consequences in the short and medium term. However, coronavirus has also generated a cultural paradigm shift that will be reflected in the medium and long term; things are not going to be the same and neither will the way we work, study, live...After coronavirus, changes to the workplace and education are going to be significant. The lines of work established by the different European governments advocate decisively on teleworking, but this requires completely new skills from the worker, for which they have not been trained: initiative, responsibility, self-management... especially in the technology sector where responsibility and demand is much greater.In the educational field, measures are being structured to promote virtual learning, especially in the field of Vocational Training, facilitating combined and virtual mobility as an alternative to on-site learning, as response mechanisms to new waves of COVID-19, but also as learning mechanism for the new work environment that is expected to be established in the future.These measures, however, are not easy to implement and require creating new tools, or adapting existing ones to totally new methodologies to which neither companies nor students and teachers are used to. This is especially important in a sector as dynamic and complex as technology, and more so when it directly impacts young persons in a situation of exclusion.These VET students find even more barriers in situations like the one we are living, which make it difficult for them to participate in innovative practices that require specific equipment and training. However, denying these students with obstacles the possibility of internships in leading companies is depriving them of a magnificent opportunity to achieve their inclusion, build competitive resumes, and access the labor market.This is why we propose to create an effective mechanism to carry out virtual internships in high-tech centers, specifically focused on students at risk of exclusion, and with the objective of training their critical and scientific thinking and the job culture and responsibility necessary for teleworking. Our methodology does not require purchasing expensive digital equipment or investing productive time in specific training for the student.For this we propose to create:- METHODOLOGICAL GUIDE: THE VIRTUAL INTERNSHIPS IN TECH CENTERS, specifically aimed at teachers in VET centers and tutors in technology companies, to offer them the guidelines to carry out virtual internships (virtual communication methods, work methodologies, virtual job protocols, etc.).- DIGITAL COURSE: E-LEARNING STIMULATION ENVIRONMENT IN TECH CENTERS. Virtual internships require the tutors of the company and the center to invest a lot of time, not only in adapting their jobs and methods, but also in training and empowering VET students. To alleviate this effort, a completely new digital course will be created, aimed directly at VET students, so they can learn the skills they require to successfully carry out these virtual internships.Along with these two high quality results, a tangible result will also be created, consisting of a digital environment where students can find the free resources and protocols necessary to implement their virtual internships via a digital toolbox.All of this will be achieved through an intersectoral strategic partnership between Spain (IKASIA, REDTREE, IES POLITÉCNICO DE CARTAGENA), Greece (EKATI), France (GRETA DU VELAY), Portugal (SOMATICA), and Italy (SMALLCODES), them being 3 VET centers, 3 high technology companies, and 1 expert in digitization and educational methodologies, who during 24 months will hold 4 transnational meetings, periodic virtual meetings, national activities for the creation of results, visibility activities, training activities for participants, 3 highly impactful multiplier events (in Valencia, Cartagena, and Kato Achaia), dissemination activities, etc.In short, we propose a project with the real capability of having a very positive impact, not only on the process of digitization of education, but also on students at risk of exclusion themselves, who are especially weak when faced with critical situations like the ones we find ourselves in. They will in turn have a positive impact on the technology companies themselves, which will improve their pathways to teleworking and will find in VET students at risk of exclusion the opportunity to improve their workforce with well-trained students to face this new challenge.

"The title of the project is ""Creative vibrations"", the main goal of the project is to shape students' creativity through art. The project will involve students aged 15-19 from secondary schools. The project will include 5 upper secondary schools from: Poland, Greece, Portugal, Italy, Croatia and a cultural institution from Poland. The project has planned 5 short-term student exchanges in each partner country. The theme of each exchange will be a different form of art, namely: theater, film, photography and stop motion animation, music, film. During each mobility trip, students will shape their creativity through a different art form. In addition, they will increase their cultural awareness through learning about the history and customs of a given country, establish acquaintances and friendships, and increase key competences, including the use of a foreign language. In the project, the material results will be the creation by the participants of a theatrical performance, short films, photography exhibition, stop-motion animations, music concert, dance performance. Teachers from schools will be able to exchange experiences, learn about how a cultural institution works and works, what methods and forms of work of people employed in it. The project will develop methods and forms of work that can be transferred to school in the future. By participating in the project, students will improve their key competences, which in the future will allow them to enter the labor market, and schools and cultural institutions will gain greater prestige in the local environment. The project will allow to establish permanent contacts with cultural institutions, exchange of experiences, which in the future will contribute to a greater shaping of students' creativity."

<< Background >>COVID-19 has had a major impact on the global economy and employment. Europe has not been immune to the consequences of the pandemic, especially those countries most affected by the virus (such as Italy, Spain or Portugal) or with less economic strength (like Greece). In Spain alone, more than 1 million jobs were destroyed in the second quarter of 2020 (not counting Temporary Employment Regulation Files), and things are not expected to improve in the short term. An OECD report predicts that the country will reach a record unemployment rate of 19.2% by the end of the year, and that it will especially impact young people, who already register high levels of unemployment (according to Eurostat, more than 17 points over Spain's average). This terrible situation will be more precarious for those students with obstacles to employability in rural or segregated areas, as their already scarce employment opportunities will be further diminished.Facing this scenario, it is essential to rebuild European society using adequate and effective tools that make it possible to alleviate the terrible consequences of the pandemic and adapt to the new landscape created by it. In this sense, experts agree that vocational training may be the most effective way to improve employability, especially of young people with obstacles, in a labor market transformed by the pandemic. This was stated by the International Labor Organization (ILO) and the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) in recent studies on the future of work and education after the pandemic.However, in order to achieve this, professional training must also overcome its weaknesses and evolve into the post-COVID-19 reality, becoming more appealing and focused on the lines required to alleviate the economic consequences of the pandemic, and offer better alternatives to its students, becoming a priority educational option for the governments of the member states (especially in countries where it is weaker, like Spain, Greece, and to a lesser extent Portugal and France).To this end, a large number of experts, reports, and agencies point out that professional training must overcome the following needs or weaknesses:- IT IS NECESSARY TO SUPPORT VET RESEARCH: The prejudices suffered by VET must disappear, turning it into another pillar of innovation and productive development. To do this, their direct participation in research must be promoted, showing that VET also has much to contribute, to finally banish a devalued image of this kind of studies, which will also provide confidence to employer companies.- THERE NEEDS TO BE A STRONG SUPPORT ON VET STUDIES TOWARDS THE MOST SOLID ECONOMIC SECTORS AFTER THE PANDEMIC, such as health, pharmaceutical, the agriculture and food sectors, distribution, electronic commerce, and technology.- THERE IS A LACK OF DEVELOPMENT OF MULTIDISCIPLINARY COMPETENCES IN VET STUDENTS, because as experts agree, the ability to adapt to change, to learn to learn, and qualities like communication, empathy, commitment, and responsibility will be necessary to get or keep a job in the new labor market left standing after coronavirus (oecd-2021).- THERE IS A LACK OF PROMOTING LEARNING IN WORK CENTERS, not reducing it to short internships, but involving the student's day-to-day activities in the company, thus not only promoting Dual VET but also involving traditional VET in the activity of companies.- IT IS NECESSARY TO STRENGTHEN AND IMPROVE DIGITAL VET: to do this, it is essential to implement innovative digital pedagogical approaches such as simulators, augmented/virtual reality, or artificial intelligence in VET, which can only be achieved by further investment in this training, as stated by Cedefop and the ETF.<< Objectives >>Through a rigorous analysis of the situation and the forecast (supported by experts) of the future post-COVID-19 society, we propose TECHVETLAB: a project aimed to contribute to alleviating the needs detected by experts from all participating countries, especially by promoting a mid-degree VET directly linked to emerging professional sectors after the pandemic, like the technology sector, and the research projects that these carry out and which will be the base for the reconstruction of the EU economy.TECHVETLAB proposes to do this through the creation of a partnership for cooperation that increases the quality of the work of each participating entity (both VET centers and participating technology companies), reinforcing their participation in diverse networks, increasing their capability to operate jointly at a transnational level, generating synergies between various fields (vocational training education, training and companies, inclusion)… but above all generating a new and highly impactful form of innovative vocational training based on the cooperation of the production and educational sector that favors the inclusion of students with obstacles.To do this, we propose an innovative method of education in VET cycles, where the VET classroom becomes a virtual department of the technology company, carrying out key parts of the research projects of interest to the company and training students with obstacles in the processes and transversal competences that interest them and that will favor their hiring. TECHVETLAB will generate learning in the workplace from the classroom, which alleviates the difficulty of accessing dual VET cycles or internships for students with obstacles, and will allow VET students with fewer opportunities to learn in demanding environments and to become partners in cutting-edge research projects.TECHVETLAB intends to answer to the needs raised by European and international institutions to generate new VET graduates capable of not only adapting to the reality of the post-COVID-19 labor market, also of becoming key agents in the European reconstruction after it, but especially focusing on the students who will have the most difficulties to achieve it: those with economic, social, and cultural barriers coming from segregated environments.This project has these specific objectives according to the needs detected:a) STRENGTHENING THE RESEARCH CAPABILITY OF VOCATIONAL TRAINING CENTERS by contributing to the direct involvement of VET training in the creation of new innovative products in the technological and/or biosanitary field that raise the value of VET work in the field of research.b) PROMOTING INTERSECTORIAL COLLABORATION BETWEEN COMPANIES IN THE TECHNOLOGY AND THE VET SECTOR, which will help to aim studies and even curricula towards the technology sector.c) PROMOTING THE DEVELOPMENT OF TRANSVERSAL COMPETENCES IN VET STUDENTS, especially those with fewer opportunities, generating study plans with the collaboration of experts, scientists, and entrepreneurs with this objective, since entrepreneurship requires exactly these skills.d) GENERATING AN INNOVATIVE SYSTEM THAT INVOLVES STUDENTS WITH FEWER OPPORTUNITIES AND VET TEACHERS IN THEIR DAY-TO-DAY IN RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT OF BUSINESS PROJECTS through networking, innovative approaches, and digital tools, thus promoting research in the VET field carried out by students, but also by teachers.e) PROMOTING A MORE ECO-FRIENDLY TECHNOLOGICAL SECTOR comprised of interdisciplinary teams that have environmental sustainability as a priority.f) ENHANCING THE INCLUSION AND EMPLOYABILITY OF VET STUDENTS WITH BARRIERS.<< Implementation >>In order to achieve these ambitious objectives, more than 650 actions have been defined, structured according to a series of stages and processes, which will not only allow them to be carried out optimally, but also to implement a total quality system that will enable a very close monitoring and detecting any non-conformity that could arise in each of the actions of the project.The project has and will have the following activities (structured in 23 work processes and 4 stages):- SITUATION STUDY ACTIVITIES: more than 40 activities including bibliographic search, meetings with experts, and various preparation and communication activities.- ACTIVITIES FOR THE CREATION OF THE LOGICAL FRAMEWORK AND FORMULATION OF THE PROJECT: 40 activities to draft documents, partner agreements, the project application, creating the COMMUNICATION, VISIBILITY, AND DISSEMINATION PLAN, and for the creation of the LOGICAL FRAMEWORK.- TRANSNATIONAL MEETINGS: 4 Transnational Meetings (Spain, Italy, Portugal, and France).- VIRTUAL COORDINATION AND COMMUNICATION MEETINGS: 24 digital activities to ensure the monitoring and coordination of the project and everything that it encompasses.- ACTIVITIES FOR THE CREATION OF RESULTS: 100 activities to develop all the results of the project, among which are national group activities, online activities, and virtual actions. Each entity will carry out key parts of the results, and working with them will be people of renowned prestige selected from among the entities this network has.- PILOT TESTS: 3 long-term pilot tests will be carried out between VET students and teachers from partner and collaborating entities, in which the new BPI METHODOLOGY will be tested for several months, involving the educational center in an innovative project in the technology field.- VISIBILIZATION AND DISSEMINATION ACTIVITIES: more than 150 actions during the whole project, aimed at increasing the project's and the new Erasmus+ Programme's visibility, and ensuring that the results are known, used, and replicated. Among these activities, actions will be carried out in social networks, bilateral meetings, presentations, workshops, publication of articles, and participation in prestigious educational conferences.- MULTIPLIER EVENTS: there will be 4 highly impactful Multiplier Events, with the capability of involving the most important multipliers in the VET field, the technological field, and the pedagogical field.- EVALUATION ACTIVITIES: more than 300 evaluation activities, including internal evaluation actions for each activity, process, and stage, but also external evaluation mechanisms outside the project by renowned experts.All these activities will be developed based on three fundamental methodological strategies fully consistent with the objectives of the project and the Erasmus+ Programme:- Ensure sustainability and respect for the environment in all activities, promoting the use of virtual actions, using only digital media and materials, and favoring the reduction of the carbon footprint by encouraging the use of environmentally friendly means of transport, thus eliminating unnecessary travel.- Promote the full inclusion of all persons involved, since many of these direct project participants will be students with economic, cultural, and social obstacles, so specific measures will be implemented to enable all of them (direct or indirect) to participate in total equity.- Encourage digitization both in the development of actions and in the results themselves, favoring a significant impact both in the digital training of participants and beneficiaries, and in the implementation of highly innovative digital educational processes and methodologies in medium-degree vocational training.<< Results >>Through the intense work of an intersectoral network of cooperatives, technology companies, and VET centers from 4 countries, we will develop an innovative methodology capable of adapting the training processes of medium-degree vocational training throughout Europe to the needs generated as a result of the new post-COVID reality, aiming VET education towards the needs of emerging sectors, and closely integrating the innovative industry fabric in the teaching process. This is a work method focused on promoting employability opportunities and skill development for students with obstacles.The BPI (BEING A PART OF IT) methodology, an innovative evolution of the ABP method, allows the VET classroom to become a department within the company, directed by the teacher, with the objective of being an active part in the development of the innovation projects of technology companies. It is not so much that the classroom behaves as if it were the company, but rather that the classroom as a whole is integrated into the planning and responsibilities of the company.This methodology is created by renowned experts from the participating entities, and that will lead to three main high-quality results that can be used independently from one-another and autonomously, since they are each their own entity:- The BEING A PART OF IT METHODOLOGICAL GUIDE: it defines the BPI METHODOLOGY and provides all the necessary guidelines to implement it in VET classrooms through a global adaptation of classroom planning, the implementation of work online routines with the company, and the use of digital tools that equate the classroom with the company, allowing all students to carry out key roles within cutting-edge innovation projects.- The TECHVETLAB EDUCATIONAL MANAGEMENT SOFTWARE: a totally free and innovative software compatible with those used by technology companies for the control of operational and productive processes, but directly adapted to VET characteristics and educational needs. This will allow not only to coordinate the networking between the classroom and the technology company, but also to transmit to the student business management methods and tools, develop scheduling capability, realistic time control, develop transversal skills, and establish logical analyses of consequences using logical tree diagrams by the student. This tool can be used with the BPI methodology, or as an independent work simulator for classrooms that use the ABP method.- The VET4TECH SEARCH SYSTEM: a software that integrates extensive databases including all VET centers that apply this learning system adapted to the needs of the technology sector on a European scale, all students who have completed and passed specific training to work in the technology research sector, and companies in this sector interested in hiring VET students with fewer opportunities. This will become a powerful tool with hundreds of possible options that make it easier for centers to find technology companies that allow them to overcome the labor and internship obstacles experienced by VET students both before and after the pandemic.In addition to these results, others will also be created, such as:- A SUCCESS CASE GUIDE to show the experiences carried out during the project in three VET classrooms that will participate in three leading projects of the participating companies, demonstrating the effectiveness of this system.- A WEB PLATFORM to facilitate the dissemination of results and the replication of the project.Lastly, we want to create an innovative strategic partnership able to generate very positive results, improving the working capabilities of these networks, and motivating future mobility projects and enhancing VET research capabilities.