The project included the organization of mobility for apprentices and trainers for the Oslo and and Akershus region. The partnership between these two regions has been successful for several years and is based on a mutual strategy of strenghenting vocational training through international mobility in order to support educational strategies. 48 apprentices took part in the project.They participated for the most part in 13 weeks placements with language course and training in company. 9 of them participated in a 6 week placement often because they were not permitted to have a longer placement by their employer. The apprentices are selected on the basis of their motivation and their personal and professional project. In order to achieve their goals, we offer them a placement abroad that included a language course and a placement in a local company. This allows them to learn new techniques, to experience life abroad and to reflect on what this experience can bring to them in the future. We cooperated with institutions in 10 European countries for organizing the placement: Austria, Denmark, England, France, Greece, Germany, Ireland, Italy, Portugal and Spain. We offered not only a large range of destinations, but also a large range of professions: - childcare workers- healthcare workers- baker- automobil mechanic- electricians- IT workers- cooks- office and administration workers- receptionists - carpentersChildcare workers are the most represented vocational training and we placed 14 apprentices in England, Spain and Italy. We look forward to deepening our ties with our current partners in this field. Only 2 trainers were placed abroad for a duration of 4-5 days, both in Italy (childcare and service/catering) . The aim was to improve the awareness of the training enterprise about the benefits of international mobility and hopefully trigger “internationalization at home” by using the international experience for training VET learning in Norway. The aim is also to benefit from the trainer’s professional expertise to define better the specific learning outcomes of some specific placements for apprentices. The feedback from the 2 trainers was positive, though we experienced that it could be challenging to send both a trainer and its trainee to the same place. We have learned we must prepare trainers better to complete their task.

"<< Background >>The background for this project was an initiative in Akershus county called ""Den gode akershusskolen (Dga)"". In brief Dga was about improving students' skills through a professionalisation of all levels of upper secondary education. One of the main intitiatives was the ""professionalisation of teachers' through incorporating common core competencies and common attitudes"" in the upper secondary schools of Akershus county. To ""have a culture of sharing of good practice"" and to be ""able to reflect upon their own teaching"" were among the core competencies expected of the teachers in the Akershus schools. We believed that promoting teachers and staff mobility activities would be meaninful contribution to achieve these goals.The project was a continuation of four similar projects from the period 2015- 2018. The original plan involved 49 school leaders and teachers specialised in different subjects from 8 of the 34 upper secondary schools in Akershus on staff mobility activities in various European countries. The activities should have mainly consisted of job shadowing at a partner school and participation in structured courses. The outburst of the covid-19 pandemic altered these ambitions.<< Objectives >>We wanted the teachers and school leaders who participated in the project to:- be more reflected towards their own and others' teaching practice- gain insight into other schools assessment practices- discover a variety of forms of teacher-student collaboration- get new perspectives on pedagogical leadership- examine how teachers and school management can gain results together- achieve up to date skills within their disciplines- be more motivated and knowledgeable staff that can spread good practice in their own school and in the county as a whole- achieving an interest in international cooperationWe expected that this would lead to a general increased awareness and openness about teaching and other relevant topics at each school. We also believed it could have a positive effect towards internationalisation and that it might lead to increased international activity by the schools involved. Ultimately this would benefit the pupils. Having motivated, dedicated, skilled, knowledgeable and updated teachers was the best starting point for pupils to learn more, to have more pupils complete upper secondary education and a high quality of the teaching, which were all among the main strategic goals we were working towards in upper secondary education in Akershus.<< Implementation >>The project kept its relevance and the consortium its original geographic scope, despite Akershus county becoming part of a larger entity called Viken during the implementation of the project. The implementation of the projects was deeply impacted by the outburst of the Covid-19 pandemic and the restrictions it entailed. It led to postponement and cancellation, but also to slight modifications of the composition of the consortium. Unfortunately, at the end we were not able to use the full granted amount.However, despite these challenges, we were able to support the mobility of 29 teachers in different schools and professional development organisations of 9 different countries (Belgium, Denmark, France, Iceland, Malta, Portugal, Spain, Sweden and United Kingdom). 16 of the participants accomplished job shadowing activities and 13 participated in structured courses. These teachers came from 8 different upper secondary schools of Akershus, representing all part of the county. Their mobility focused on a variety of subjects from, for example, improvement of foreign language skills, teaching math or addressing students with special needs.<< Results >>The participants have acquired a higher degree of awareness of self-teaching practices, increased academic safety and increased motivation. The competence acquired by each teachers has an evident effect on the school and the pupils as the participants declared a greater openess to use and test different teaching methods in their school context. Modification in the regional structure, the reduced number of mobility and the pandemic prevented us to conduct strong and systematic spreading activities and evaluation on regional level. However, we beleive the project will have an effect on the teaching corps as the participants shared and will continue to share their knowledge and competence with their peers, first at their school, but also in the different competence network of Viken county. As a whole, it contributes to increasing the reflection about efficient and innovative teaching approaches and improve the overall quality of education in our county."

"An incentive strategy to promote the mobility of apprentices in Occitanie: Region leads an incentive policy to encourage the mobility of apprentices on its territory. It affects around 1000 apprentices each year and the Regional Assembly wish to ensure this effort to encourage the mobility of this public. To boost this policy, the region received significant support from the LEONARDO and ERASMUS+ programs since 2009 . Over the period 2018/2020 it is to extend this action to which the application of apprentices and the interest of the CFA are growing. This proposal is part of a strategy to strengthen mobility implemented in the framework of partnerships stabilized, but also development of new initiatives to provide opportunities for new CFA, especially smaller, which benefit from experience gained by the consortium. It will also develop mobility to vocation ""Certification"" in order to enhance the recognition of acquired skills. The Region proposes in this context a strong support for CFA: 1 / the proposed technical assistance to the CFA for the development, monitoring and evaluation of their projects: Many CFA remains little - if at all for some - experienced in European mobility projects. It is therefore to support the structures / teaching staff in the engineering of the project on the educational aspects (linguistic and cultural preparations initially, Europass, etc.), logistical and budget to finalize qualitatively valid nominations and financially eligible. Indeed, mobility projects account for them not only a financial effort, but also a significant administrative burden, while their human resources to develop these actions remain limited. The Region has earmarked a project squad for this methodological support. 2 / producing financial engineering to leverage the Region's response capability for the benefit of CFA: these include funding to abound in the region through the intervention of the appropriations of the European Union, including mobility projects to the public via apprentice Erasmus + scholarships. The Region provides administrative and financial management of projects on behalf of the CFA in the search for a simplification of procedures and their workload, but also to leverage coordinating various financial interventions. Direct control via the Occitanie / Pyrénées - Méditerranée Region: To increase the number of mobility actions in the CFA, the region directly promote and coordinate the project and the management of the consortium. It is providing technical assistance to a wide range of CFA and partner channels. The project presented concerns 42 CFA of various statutes, National Education (FR), Agriculture and LIM, branches and consular or private high school (Airbus) hosting apprentices V and IV levels apprentices registered training in these institutions, the construction industries, agriculture, aviation, hotels or industry and services in general. The strategy of this project is to establish direct partnerships between local CFA and European training centers to facilitate the investment company. Thus, each CFA develop specific interaction with one or more training centers to the needs expressed and the relevant sector. To the extent that all training centers displayed on this project lead professional training on how alternating school / company, they will be directly mobilized on internships Research and placement of apprentices via the corporate network their territory. The commitment of the CFA on the project is directly related to their involvement in the investment business. That is why this project shows little companies identified a priori, this mission is entrusted to the CFA and intermediary organizations of the project. The project for scholarships Erasmus + scheduled over 2 years, concerns : - 744 apprentices from 44 CFA of Occitanie for average stays of 2 or 3 weeks, - 14 learners of Occitanie for 3 to 5 month of internship."

One of the objectives of the Erasmus+ Programme is to encourage the development of high-quality transnational work placements across Europe. The idea for MATCHSI came from research and the observation that the quality of the information collected from the trainees, the vocational education training providers and the host companies, particularly small and medium sized businesses, before transnational work placements and then subsequently shared was not always in sufficient depth or as relevant as it could be. This resulted in a significant gap between the expectations and objectives of the different stakeholders involved in the process including hosting and sending organisations. In short, the needs of trainees and host companies were not always fully identified or taken into account. This in turn dramatically reduced the many benefits of this type of mobility experience resulting in disappointment and even disillusionment amongst those involved. The MATCHSI project brought together eight partners from seven EU member states and aimed to fill this gap by producing a user-friendly and adaptable Toolkit to facilitate the identification, the collection and the transmission of all the relevant information. These innovative, up to date resources are compatible with and complement the already existing tools and methods developed and promoted by the EU, such as Europass CV. The Toolkit was tested on a control group of 119 trainees who undertook a transnational work placement of 3 weeks to 6 months in duration. The materials were also tested by the project partners through their networks on over 600 additional placements, involving more than 40 educational establishments and VET providers, more than 350 host companies and over 30 additional interested parties, such as local public administrative bodies. A significant number of these placements involved young people who would not typically have taken part in transnational mobility, including 22 from disadvantaged socio-economic backgrounds. Project Partners also undertook in-depth research in each partner country and produced a work-based learning Compendium of Good Practice for Transnational Work-placements, available in 7 languages. The bringing together of these resources from seven European countries in one place has helped to make the information easier to find and to encourage improvements in the quality of collaborative work between VET providers, mobility service providers, businesses and other stakeholders and perhaps even the development of new cooperative approaches and solutions. The project was managed by a steering committee and featured 2 sub-working groups. All resources and materials produced through the project are freely consultable and downloadable via the MATCHSI website and are be available in the seven languages of the project as appropriate.The results of the MATCHSI project will help increase the impact of transnational work placements, leading to added value on a trainee’s CV and thereby improving employability by helping to develop the skills required by businesses. This in turn may contribute to improving the quality of the labour force and help to promote economic development within the European Union. Another long-term benefit of our project is to facilitate stronger partnerships between the educational and business sectors by increasing the involvement and ownership of host companies in the work-based learning process. As the renowned scientist Laurence Bragg said in 1958, ‘The important thing is not necessarily to discover new facts, but to develop new ways of thinking about them’ This is what we have achieved through the MATCHSI project.

Living and learning in Europe (LLE) is the first international project within vocational training in the new Viken county, founded on 1. january 2020 after the implementation of a regional reform. It represents south-eastern Norway, previously the counties of Akershus, Buskerud and Østfold. LLE also concerns the city of Oslo with whom Akershus county has had a long standing cooperation. Vikens’ ambition is to continue and expand projects for international mobility within vocational training. This implies giving new opportunities to publics and areas that previously were not covered by Erasmus projects for vocational training. Using internationalization as a tool, LLE aims to strengthen vocational training and to support innovative thinking in companies and organizations. By offering international mobilities to apprentices, companies or organizations, we hope to see spill-over effects: - In recruitment, to make vocational training as attractive as other educational pathways by offering equal opportunities. The chance to have an international mobility can attract new candidates to vocational training. - In quality of education: we allow participants to experience differences or similarities in work philosophies and methods. This is because international mobility is a trigger for participants to reflect on their own practices and gives a new understanding of the scope of one’s profession. A positive outcome is for apprentices to become more pro active in their education and to show more interest in learning about their field of work. For trainers, a positive outcome would be using observing the new methods in teaching. - In work environment : Internationalization can improve work environments beyond the direct benefits to participants. The impacts of internationalization are long lasting and make participants “internationalization ambassadors” that can create a stimulating environment that encourages innovation and openness. A positive outcome of international mobilities will then be skilled workers that will feel better equipped to adapt to an ever evolving job market. - In participant’s ability to be active citizens: the participants will not only strengthen their professional skills, they will achieve a larger degree of independence, develop better cultural awareness, develop their ability to work in a foreign environment and to feel as a part of a larger European society. Our application reflects our wish to maintain a high level of internationalization within vocational training. It also reflects our need to expand to new areas, to new publics and to new professions. - Long term mobilities, as planned by our Erasmus+ VET charter. Apprentices will perform a 13 week placement which will include a language course and training in a company. We aim to send apprentices that will represent all of Viken’s territories and Oslo as well as the diversity in the professions they work in. We will also strive to work towards better equality by giving opportunities to special profiles ( women in male dominated sectors, or men in women dominated sectors...) - Short term placements in order to allow new publics to gain experience with international mobility. These mobilities would specifically be aimed at apprentices from the previous areas of Buskerud and Østfold which have not had access to Erasmus projects before. Based on the principles of lifelong learning and the need for apprentices to have professionals from their own field to spar with, we want to increase our focus on mobilities for staff. We therefore apply for: - Staff mobilities to allow trainers to be placed abroad for a limited amount of time. This will enable us to promote internationalization in companies and organizations. We hope to create a context where apprentices can discuss their observations regarding their international mobility with skilled workers in their field. - Accompanying persons, to offer the possibility for trainers to visit their apprentices taking part in a mobility. The apprentice will benefit from being seen and visited. We expect the staff to help the apprentice reflect and interpret situation. We experience that apprentices in some professions, like in health trades, face ethical questions and need guidance during the training period. The visiting staff will have a better understanding of the experience, especially in the cases where we meet skepticism and questions about the monitoring of the apprentices. - Teachers in vocational education : We want to expand this project to include teachers in vocational subjects from the upper secondary schools. We believe that the teachers will acquire new knowledge and expand the scope of their profession. This will in turn create a positive attitude within school management to develop international projects for students in vocational education. Within Viken schools, there are already many possibilities to join staff mobility projects for general studies teachers.