Open Call: Capacity building in the field of VET in Western Balkans

Capacity building projects are international cooperation projects based on multilateral partnerships between organisations active in the field of VET in EU Member States and third countries associated to the Programme, and third countries not associated to the Programme.

Through joint initiatives that foster cooperation across different regions of the world, this action intends to increase the capacity of VET providers – especially in the fields of management, governance, inclusion, quality assurance, and innovation – so that they are better equipped to engage with private sector/enterprises/business associations to explore employment opportunities and jointly develop responsive VET interventions. International partnerships should contribute to improving the quality of VET in the third countries not associated to the Programme, notably by reinforcing the capacities of VET staff and teachers as well as by strengthening the link between VET providers and the labour market.

It is envisaged that the capacity building projects VET contribute to the broader policy objectives that are being pursued between the European Commission and the third countries not associated to the Programme or region concerned, including Global Gateway investment packages and the development of Talent partnerships and the Talent pool as laid down in the Commission Communication on attracting skills and talent to the EU of April 2022.

Objectives

• Specifically, the action will:
  • Build capacity of VET providers to strengthen cooperation between private and public stakeholders in the field of vocational education and training for demand-oriented and opportunity-driven VET interventions;
  • Improve the quality and responsiveness of VET to socio-economic opportunities and social developments to enhance the labour market relevance of skills provision;
  • Align VET provision to local, regional and national development strategies.

Thematic Areas

• Features that characterise capacity building in VET include some thematic areas presented below. Proposals should focus on one or more of the following themes:
  • Work-based learning (for young people and/or adults);
  • Quality assurance mechanisms;
  • VET teachers/trainers professional development;
  • Key competences, including entrepreneurship and citizenship competence;
  • Public Private Dialogue and Partnerships in VET;
  • Innovation in VET;
  • Green and digital skills for the twin transition;
  • Skills matching with current and future job opportunities, including in promising value chains under development;
  • Development of curricula and training modules.

Priorities

• Priority will be given to projects that contribute to its Economic and Investment Plan and/or the European Training Foundation recommendations under the Torino process (see above);
• Mobility of learners (students) and staff (teachers, trainers, directors, managers etc.) will be privileged.

Funding Information

• The EU grant per project will vary from a minimum of EUR 100000 EUR to a maximum of EUR 400000
• Projects should normally last 24 or 36 months (extensions are possible, if duly justified and through an amendment of the grant agreement).

Eligible Activities

• The activities proposed must be directly linked to the objectives and thematic areas of the action, i.e. they must correspond to one or more of the thematic areas listed above and they must be detailed in a project description covering the entire implementation period.
• Funded projects will be able to integrate a wide range of cooperation, exchange, communication and other activities including, for example:
  • creating and developing networks and exchanges of good practice between VET providers in third countries not associated to the Programme and in EU Member State or third country associated to the Programme;
  • creating tools, programmes and other materials to build the capacity of institutions from third countries not associated to the Programme (practical training schemes training programmes and tools for assessing and validating learning outcomes in VET, individual action plans for participating institutions; professional guidance and counselling and coaching methods…);
  • creating mechanisms to involve the private sector both in the design and delivery of curricula and to provide VET learners with high quality work-based experience;
  • developing and transferring pedagogical approaches, teaching and training materials and methods, including work based learning, virtual mobility, open educational resources and better exploitation of the ICT potential;
  • developing and implementing international (virtual) exchange activities for staff primarily (including teachers and non-teaching staff such as school leaders, managers, counsellors, advisors, etc.).

Expected Impact

• The granted projects should demonstrate their expected impact by achieving the following results:
  • tighter links between the third countries not associated to the Programme VET system and its labour market;
  • improved links between VET profiles and local/regional/national strategies and priorities;
  • improved capacities of VET providers especially in the fields of management, governance, inclusion, quality assurance, innovation and internationalisation;
  • increased exposure of staff, managers, policy makers and senior teachers to approaches bringing the labour market and VET closer;
  • improved knowledge, technical, managerial and pedagogical skills of VET teachers and trainers;
  • better input of teachers/trainers, VET learners and employers into curriculum, profile design and training reform;
  • improved level of competences, skills and employability potential of VET learners;
  • increased cooperation across different regions of the world through joint initiatives;
  • development of competences of the participating organisations regarding environmental sustainability;
  • improved digital skills and competences of the target public through appropriate activities and initiatives;
  • increased social and intercultural competences in the VET field.

Eligibility Criteria

• In order to be eligible, the applicants (beneficiaries and affiliated entities, if applicable) must:
  • be legal entities (public or private bodies);
  • be active in the VET field or in the labour market;
  • Participating organisations can be, for example (non-exhaustive list):
    • VET providers
    • Companies, industry, other employers or sector representative organisations
    • National/regional qualification authorities
    • Employment services
    • Research institutes
    • Innovation agencies
    • Regional development authorities
    • International organisations
  • and must be established in one of the eligible countries, i.e. EU Member State, third country associated to the Programme, third country not associated to the Programme from an eligible region.
• The coordinator must be an organisation active in the VET field. It applies on behalf of all participating organisations involved in the project. It cannot be an affiliated entity. Organisations from third countries not associated to the Programme cannot be coordinators.
• Other entities may participate in other consortium roles, such as associated partners. Exception: organisations from Belarus and Russia are not eligible to participate in this action as associated partners.
• Proposals must be submitted by a consortium of at least 4 applicants (beneficiaries, not affiliated entities) from minimum 3 eligible countries:
  • at least 2 EU Member States or third countries associated to the Programme;
    • each of these participating countries must involve at least 1 organisation.
  • at least 1 eligible third country not associated to the Programme:
    • at least 2 organisations from the participating eligible third country/countries not associated to the Programme from the same region
    • Organisations from different eligible regions cannot participate in the same projects. Cross-regional projects are not eligible.
  • The consortium must include at least one VET provider at non-tertiary education level.
  • The number of organisations from EU Member States and third countries associated to the Programme may not be higher than the number of organisations from eligible third countries not associated to the Programme.
  • Affiliated entities and associated partners do not count for the consortium composition.

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