Context and BackgroundThe Heritage Council was established as a statutory body under the Heritage Act, 1995 to work in the public interest to promote the protection of heritage, support jobs, education and heritage tourism in local communities. Through its grant schemes, the Heritage Council supports a wide network of skilled heritage jobs including conservators, builders, thatchers, ecologists, archaeologists, conservation architects and museum curators through training, bursaries and expertise. A specific opportunity has been identified to provide accredited lime mortar works training in Ireland however there is no course in Ireland which gives participants a recognised qualification specifically in Lime Mortar application, knowledge and understanding at craft or professional level. To effectively design and run such a suitable course in the use of Lime Mortar, in conjunction with the BLFI and others, the Heritage Council would like to facilitate research into the pedagogical methods, course content and delivery mechanisms for existing courses in the UK. Project ObjectivesOur project is aimed at supporting the professional development of VET staff who currently provide voluntary training in the building conservation skill of preparing renders, plasters and mortars made with lime (CaO2) to help them acquire the additional knowledge and skills necessary to structure their own competencies in training and the craft to devise a curriculum and syllabus to accredit courses at master craft level in Ireland. This will include researching the ‘Recognition of Prior Learning (RPL)’, as many of the target trainees in Ireland will have experience of working with this technology, but may not have received a comprehensive education or training, nor received the recognition that the skill they hold deserves. Through participation in this programme our key aims are to facilitate practitioners and trainers from VET training organisations in the following areas:• develop their professional teaching skills through observing and job shadowing their European counterparts • acquire knowledge of the design of courses in an established and internationally recognised host organisation• exchange experience on the running and delivery the courses in line with best practice. Number and Profile of ParticipantsWe have selected a cohort of VET staff to participate in the staff mobility programme because they would be involved in the design and delivery of accredited courses in the future. The selection criteria focusses on VET staff that have experience of training in the conservation of the built environment, and who have key individual contributions to make to curriculum development for a lime mortar master craftsman accreditation. We have selected the participants for the VET Staff Mobility through engaging with the Building Limes Forum Ireland (BLFI) and VET trainers who have been working in the Institutes of Technology (IoTs)who have, over the last sixteen years, been running short training courses to raise awareness and appreciation of the technology and techniques relating to lime mortars and renders at level 5 and 6. Description of Activities• To arrange international exchange of Irish trainers observing course at the Scottish Lime Centre Trust to help them to devise a curriculum for Traditional Limework Knowledge. The curriculum to include overarching conservation principles, and skill-specific ones, including recognising differing emphasis.• To exchange detailed information on syllabuses, accreditation standards and procedures between the partner organisations• To devise a working methodMethodology to be used in carrying out the projectThe key method used to implement this project is a Project Management Plan, managed by the Project Co-ordinator with responsibility for logistics, communications, measurement and evaluation of the project.Results and ImpactThe learning outcomes of this project will be captured through quantative and qualitative means Long Term Benefit• Providing a skilled, competent and accredited workforce for a traditional building skill where no such accreditation exists• To mainstream a form of constructional knowledge that addresses the needs of a large proportion of the European, UK and Irish building stock, and which will contribute to effective thermal upgrading • To negotiate and agree international linkages, including common understandings of standards of competence, between masons working with lime across EuropeThe success of this project, it is hoped, will lead to the potential involvement of Irish partners in European-led KA2 Strategic Partnership to develop, co-ordinate and validate the proposed BLFI master craftsperson course against other European initiatives.The sustainability of the projectWith the involvement of BLFI, IoT and QQI, it will be possible to demonstrate the capacity to deliver the project within an institutional framework in future in Ireland.

"This project has promoted passing on traditional building skills (TBS) to young people and perpetuating the skills needed to repair the historic built environment. The ambitious projected outputs have been delivered; an impressive range of new learning materials for young people at high school level. The wider outcomes and aims of sharing experience and learning lessons on how to further education initiatives and promote traditional building skills have also been successfully addressed by the the project. The intangible outcomes, the participation of the young people, the different approaches at each school and the links with the strategic partners and with businesses and employers in some of the project activities and the networking developed and continuing has raised awareness of the issue and added to the debate on traditional building skills.The project experience has shown that there are skills shortages in all three participating regions and that there is a need to introduce high school pupils to the possibility of traditional building skills. The issues arising from a general shift away from vocational education and the general demise of the apprenticeship system that were evident to some extent in all three regions, but more so in Fife and less so in Hordaland. At each of the partner High Schools of St Andrews High School (and Fife College), both in Fife and Voss Vidaregaande Skule (VVS) in Hordaland, Norway, and Zaklad Doskonalenia Zawodowego (ZDZ) in Torun, Poland, new courses were developed in TBS. The schools in Voss and Torun were not directly comparable with that in Fife, being technical upper schools which catered for an older age-group of 16-19 year olds, more comparable with colleges in Scotland. They also already had construction courses with work experience and craft skills as part of their courses, but not focussing on traditional buildings and skills. The input of the strategic and national partners Historic Environment Scotland and The Scottish Lime Centre Trust proved invaluable in helping the Fife school and college to design and deliver TBC construction crafts training. Innovation has been the main aim and a suite of new educational resources have been created that in each region are ground-breaking. The new O.2 course also used innovative digital technology in scanning buildings and taking drone footage from above as part of the repairs assessment exercise set. The pilot courses and other resources created can be used by other schools and supported by the new video resources produced, which are again the first of their kind. Networking has been an important aim of the project- to build up a support network for the pupils and schools with employers engaged in TBS. Torun and Voss both include work experience extending up to one year. The TBS project experience has highlighted further opportunities and the new courses are linked in each case to a craft centre and folk museum as well as local employers. In the UK, the specialist assistance was required to support the development and delivery of the courses, over and above the practical sessions and videos. The Scottish Lime Centre Trust and Historic Environment scotland donated much additional time and resource in supporting the school and college. Links made with Fife College, the Scottish Lime Centre Trust and Historic Environment Scotland and with crafts people who led craft workshops may prove useful in that respect. The Train the Trainers course has however up-skilled the teachers to continue to deliver the O.1 course. The three mobilities were completed successfully and the Norwegian and Scottish visitor left Poland only hours before the first lockdown.The project prioritised the participation of any under-represented groups. The exchanges included girls (from Fife and Torun, but Norway had no girls in their construction course), young people from disadvantaged families and ""early school leavers"" who not going on to further education. In addition there were a small number of participants from ethnic minorities and pupils with learning difficulties. Some pupils were travelling abroad for the first time. The COVID-19 outbreak has affected the project. An extension of one year was granted but no extra finance. The schools were periodically closed. Pupils in Scotland are still wearing masks in school and external visitors are at the time of writing still not allowed in school. With construction courses already in place, the schools in Voss and Torun were able to deliver their pilot courses before Lockdown. In Fife, the O.1 and I.O.5 courses were 50% complete (for approximately 100 pupils) but the O.2 had not begun yet-it had been scheduled for March-June 2020. Both were eventually re-run but the all-important craft sessions for the O.1 course were delivered partly by the teachers and partly by specialists via zoom but had to be to one class only -25 pupils due to COVID restrictions and the challenges faced at school."