Five projects were chosen to test the concept of ‘Centres of Vocational Excellence’ and contribute to the development of the initiative for Erasmus+ post-2020.
SwissCore Detail
The 5 pilot projects will be implemented under the current Erasmus+ programme’s Key Action 2 (KA2) scheme called ‘Sector Skills Alliances’ (SSAs). The projects, composed of 9 to 13 main partners, will run over 2 years and receive an Erasmus+ funding between EUR 800’000 and EUR 1’000’000 per project. 2019 was the first time that the SSA call included support for the establishment of Platforms of Centres of Vocational Excellence (CoVE), an excellence initiative for Vocational Education and Training (VET) in parallel to the European Universities initiative for higher education (see SwissCore article). This initiative supports innovative approaches to modernise VET through transnational cooperation platforms, building on a strong engagement with local and regional partners. This should contribute to skills development, responding to local needs and supporting local/regional growth and innovation strategies.
The 5 pilot projects selected for funding will contribute to the further development of the initiative under the framework of the future Erasmus 2021-2027 programme. They are:
- Digital innovation Hub for Cloud Based Services, led by Helsinki Business College, in Finland
- European Open Design School for Sustainable Regional Development, led by Fondazione Matera-Basilicata 2019, in Italy
- Excellent advanced manufacturing 4.0, led by TKNIKA, in Spain
- Pilot Platform of Vocational Excellence Water, led by Friesland College, in The Netherlands
- Talentjourney – Platform for CDS VET Excellence, led by Solski center Nova Gorica, in Slovenia
SSAs in general should identify or draw on existing and emerging skills needs in a specific economic sector and/or translate these needs into vocational curricula to respond to those needs. In addition to the CoVE, 7 projects will be funded under ‘Design and delivery of VET’ and 6 projects under ‘Blueprint’ sectoral approach.
More information about the next calls will be available in the upcoming Erasmus+ Programme Guide (expected for October/November 2019). Call deadlines will probably be in February 2020.