IDA Mobility Program transnational meeting in Darmstadt

The European Center in Training for Employment participated in the Transnational meeting which took place in Darmstadt in Germany on 23th and 25th of November 2013 under the subject of IDA mobility program.

The meeting was organized by the German job agencies, and local authorities which are responsible for the organization and the implementation of the European Mobility program IDA. Invited in this meeting were the European partners from Greece, Italy and Denmark which act as host partners in the implementation of IDA project, as well as representatives from the national job agency of each country and employers who receive IDA participants for practice in their companies.

IDA program concerns the mobility of people from special social classes, disadvantage people or with special skills, long term unemployed, ex- addicted etc. The point of this mobility project is to give the chance to the people belong in the above categories to travel abroad in order to develop their professional and social skills.

In the frame of this meeting participated partners had the chance to present their experience in IDA project, to participate in interesting workshops in order to get the feedback from the program and to discuss the economical situation and unemployment rates in Europe as well as ways of dealing of each country.

In conclusion, all partners agreed that the European Mobility program IDA must continue due to the fact that the positive effects in participants personal and professional life are obvious as their biggest percentage is leaded on vocational rehabilitation.

Erasmus+ / One step closer

From 1 January 2014, Erasmus+ will become the new EU funding programme for education, training, youth and sport. Erasmus+ will have a new, streamlined structure that combines current funding programmes in the sector including the Lifelong Learning Programme (Comenius, Leonardo, Erasmus, Grundtvig and Transversal Programmes), Youth in Action, Jean Monnet, Tempus and Erasmus Mundus

ECTE’s international department team, has already started networking and brainstorming, drafting new opportunities and challenges. As we move into November, a number of significant dates in the European level process to approve the new EU programme for education, training, youth and sport are scheduled to take place.

Starting on 5 November, members of the European Parliament’s (MEPs) CULT Committee in Brussels will vote on the approval of Erasmus+. This will be followed by a vote of MEPs on Erasmus+ during the Plenary sitting in Strasbourg on 19 November. If MEPs vote to adopt the programme, this will indicate the final stages of the European Union’s legislative process for Erasmus+ to enter into force in January 2014.

The European Union’s Multiannual Financial Framework (MFF) for 2014 – 2020 is also scheduled to be debated on 18 November in the first of the three day Plenary sitting. The MFF, which will establish the EU’s budget for the next seven years, is still to be confirmed and this includes the overall budget for the Erasmus+ programme.

You can keep up-to-date with Erasmus+ developments by following the hashtag #erasmusplusUK

Mobility Placements In Crete / 2013

Even though the year of 2013 is considered as the last year of the existing mobility projects as we know them (Leonardo da Vinci, Erasmus) and the passing to a new structural organization of International Mobility Projects under the title “Erasmus for All”, still it has been another successful year for our organization ECTE!

ECTE managed to implement successfully 26 mobility projects and host more than 280 participants from all over Europe in the city of Rethymno. Some of the countries with which we collaborated were: Italy, Spain, France, Germany, Latvia, Lithuania, Czech Republic, Malta and Turkey. Among these international partners with who ECTE keep a very good collaboration the last 10 years, is worth to be mentioned the strong collaboration it was established with different vocational schools in Turkey. We provided vocational training in the field of Electronics and new digital Technologies to more than 30 participants from Turkey through LDV IVT projects, as well as qualified study visits in LDV VETPRO projects in the field of renewable energy and innovations in the educational process.

In addition to the internships, ECTE, organized Greek and English language courses in the certified classrooms, administration & tutoring support (providing a 24hours emergency support), accommodation, cultural excursions and dynamic activities that empowered the interaction of participants from different social & cultural background.

Young librarians from Germany

Fifteen young librarians from Germany who participated in the European Mobility project Leonardo da Vinci entitled “Famipool”, had practice in one of the biggest University Libraries in Europe. The participants during their internships worked in cataloguing, digitization, restoration of books e.t.c. Participants came to Rethymno under three mobility programs with duration 8 weeks each one. All of them after the end of the project evaluated their practice with excellent marks and they mentioned that their participation in this mobility was a very good opportunity to gain new knowledge and skills in their profession, as most of them didn’t have any previous practice or working experience in this filed.

From the point of view of the University Library, the tutors of the practice were very satisfied with this collaboration, wishing to continue this actions organized by ECTE – European Center in Training for Employment.

GSSkills Project – Geothermal and Solar skills

Mutual learning in the field of skills and employment, EU / Sector Skills Councils, Restructuring

European Union’s (EU) new strategy for sustainable growth and jobs, Europe 2020, puts innovation and green growth at the heart of its blueprint for competitiveness. In the future, every job will be a green job. In order to adapt faster, an environmentally–skilled workforce is essential. More and better skills are indispensable for the European labor force, as they make it easier to innovate, adopt new green technologies, attract investment, compete in new markets, and diversify the economy.

According to a study by UNEP on green jobs, which are “jobs in the environmental sector and/or jobs requiring specific environment-related skills”, many existing jobs (i.e. plumbers, electricians, metal, and construction workers), may be altered due to the greening of day-to-day skill sets, work methods and profiles. Workers, in order to avoid the unemployment, should upgrade their existing skills through training tailored to particular “green” needs.

Aim of the project “GSSkills” is to improve the efficiency and adequacy of existing training practices in the field of green installations and in particular that of geothermal and solar ones, and to promote training for low skilled workers in related professional sectors, namely that of electricians and plumbers. The network of collaborating partners consists of geographically wide spread countries, applying different type of low carbon green installations as well as different approaches in vocational training in this sector, resulting in a promising partnership for acquiring project goals.

More specifically, GSskills project has a threefold aim:

  1. Firstly, to identify appropriate skills needed for a worker to meet needs of Geothermal and Solar Installation Specialists.
  2. Secondly, to identify best practices, in promoting training.
  3. Thirdly, to create a network among education institutions, public authorities, professional associations, and business community in the field of Geothermal and Solar Installations in the 4 partners countries.