Fifteen apprentices to become biological assistants and two trainers from the Research Center Borstel attended the program. The trainees spent a four week stay in a laboratory for molecular biology in Lisbon or Stockholm, in a laboratory of clinical cell-biology in Aarhus, in a microbiology laboratory in Lisbon, in a laboratory of biochemistry and molecular biology in Madrid or in a laboratory for veterinary medicine in Palermo (Sicily). Their duties were to attend practical works in the laboratory and to get an overview of the theoretical background of the topics. All trainees were full age and in the third year of apprenticeship. The working areas and the methods performed in the foreign groups were in principle known to the participants. Their levels of knowledge proved to be good. Thus, a quick on-job-training was sufficient. Since the profession ‘biological assistant’ is not known in foreign countries, we advised our foreign partners about the trainees’ knowledge and their practical skills before the visits. At all destinations the participants switched between different subgroups and worked there for several days. The supervisors of all laboratories managed to respond all upcoming questions. To become aware of the different practical methods, each trainee had to write a report of his/her stay. This served as a basis to prove the acquired knowledge of the new techniques. Furthermore, the participants presented their experience in a final meeting. Their presentations were also useful for those apprentices, who want to attend the Erasmus program in the following year. By this, they got already some impressions of their next year activity and important hints.The main goal to attend this Erasmus project was the willingness to work in a foreign country, to be faced with multiple duties and to add the personal potential. In each case Improvements of these skills were obtained. Communication in the laboratories was performed in English. However, in Palermo not all staff members spoke English. Therefore, the linguistic skill was less compared to the trainees in the other countries. Nevertheless, the participants had many opportunities to prove their English. All trainees were cordially invited by their hosts and hospitality was extraordinary. Especially, one group stayed with a host family, participated in Portugese meals, attended everyday discussions and got a lot of insider tips.The actual situation of Europe and the Euro were subjects of debate. E.g. the tendency of national demarcation, international crises concerning debt and refugees, and the standing of the Germans and of the chancellor Mrs. Merkel were intensely discussed. On the whole, Germans are envied and eminently respected. Furthermore, the participants became aware of the advantages of our social insurance system.All groups, especially the trainees in Italy, Portugal and Spain were interested in cultural belongings and each weekend they made trips. Such experiences strengthened the self-confidence, improved the self-reliance and resulted in new professional goals, e.g. to start university studies or to finish secondary school examination. Furthermore, the apprentices improved their flexibility upon unexpected situations and their accessibility to foreign people. These personal features need to grow. Therefore, at the time we can recognize an increase. However, the participation in the Erasmus project is an important step in this direction.The four week laboratory visits were certified by a testimonial of the foreign partner, by the Europass and by an operational certificate. The two trainer also benefitted from the visits in several ways: My colleague learned new techniques for the cultivation and determination of microbes (metagenomics) and the investigation on the influence of various antibiotics (pharmacodynamics) at the Stockholm University and he performed several experiments by himself. I visited a new institute working on system biology in Valencia. The methodological approach was to characterize complex interactions between organisms. The mutual influences can be investigated on the molecular level by new methods of molecular biology and bioinformatics. Furthermore, technical methods and aspects of teaching (important facts, strategies) were discussed with the professors and supervisors at the university, with the student apprentices and the technicians. For me it was very helpful to improve and refresh my Spanish by a one week course at a language school in Valencia for discussions as well as for the cultural enterprises during the weekend,

"<< Background >>The EC estimates that one in six people in EU countries has a disability. This means that around 80 million people have a disability that limits their activities of daily living. There is hardly any data on the type of employment to which people with disabilities have access, yet we know that only 50.6% of people with disabilities are employed, compared to 74.8% of people without disabilities. A recent EU-wide survey of people with disabilities shows that 96% of them consider that access to the open labour market is inadequate or needs to be improved.In a context of mass unemployment, the difficulty of keeping their jobs or finding a new one among disabled workers is even greater. Lack of formal training and experience, family protectionism, prejudices and social barriers, lack of information and awareness of the phenomenon of disability, lack of knowledge of the adaptations that can be made in the workplace, lack of accessibility to the workplace, lack of confidence in the possibilities of these people, lack of personal self-motivation or the technification and digitalisation of employment, or older age constitute particular difficulties for disabled workers integration and the main barriers that people with disabilities face in the process of their integration into the labour market, and to which they find an answer in the protected employment provided by inclusive companies. In the countries of project partners the common obligation in inclusive companies is to provide an adequate framework and support to employees to facilitate the social and labour market inclusion of people with disabilities. They usually have multidisciplinary teams made up of specialists in many areas: psychologists, social workers, job coaches, social educators, physiotherapists, etc... The support to the worker is always individualised and aims to help them overcome the barriers, obstacles or difficulties they encounter in their workplace and achieve their autonomy, full integration into the workforce and their personal and social wellbeing.<< Objectives >>According to the demands of the authorities and international organisations, the full inclusion of people with disabilities in the labour market requires the recognition and exercise of their right to join the ordinary labour market. In this sense, this project aims to advance in the objective of equipping people with disabilities working in Inclusive Enterprises with the skills to access employment in the open labour market, trying to limit the sheltered workshop option to a temporary solution for PwD in their working life cycle, and to ensure their smoother participation in the open labour market and in society as a whole, all this in the context of a disparity of protected employment models in EU countries, as pointed out in the European Parliament resolution of 10/03/2021 on the implementation of Council Directive 2000/78/EC establishing a general framework for equal treatment in employment and occupation, in the light of the UN CRPD (2020/2086(INI)), according to its recital N and paragraph 13, of the Member States. The same idea underlies the European Disability Rights Strategy 2021-2030, that includes it in a package of initiatives for 2022 to improve labour market outcomes for people with disabilities by finding ways to access the open labour market.However, in order to actively promote the transition of workers with disabilities from Inclusive Enterprise to open employment, Inclusive Enterprise Support Unit workers with a wide range of qualifications, or even workers with disabilities trained from professional experience, need to broaden their tasks. This new task generates a learning opportunity among the workers of the support unit or among other professionals of the labour insertion in order to adapt to the needs of the inclusive labour market.Additionally, in this new task, the workers of the support unit will be able to opt for tools that they will put at the service of the workers with disabilities, to train them and facilitate their incorporation into the ordinary labour market, so that we are also facing a new opportunity and an adaptation of the professional training within the reach of the people with disabilities working in the Inclusive Company. In both cases, these are innovative formulas that difers from other projects because they incorporate two different elements to traditional labour insertion: the transition between two labour markets -the protected and the ordinary one- and disability. This project aims to address, from a practical and constructive point of view, based on the observation and exchange of good practices, the design of this inclusive training, in order to ultimately favour the transition of people with disabilities to the ordinary labour market thanks to the action of what we will call ""Coach for Transition"".<< Implementation >>Among others, through the development of training activities in Belgium, France, Spain, Germany and Poland that favour the exchange of experiences and models, and the identification of the best good practices based on observation and comparison through: visits to inclusive companies and sheltered workshops, and ordinary employment companies with experience in inclusion, holding interviews and meetings with managers and those responsible for training and the training the support units and social workers, as well as with workers and with those responsible or experts from the administration in the field of labour inclusion to learn more about the country's policies, will be able to:1. identify, in relation to the transition of the disabled worker from protected employment to mainstream employment in the participating countries: - the barriers experienced by workers, - the legal frameworks and policies that favour the transition, - the activities developed by the Inclusive Company for workers with disabilities for that purpose from the services of job adjustment and accompaniment. 2. Identify best practices in the sheltered market to favour the transition to mainstream employment: at the policy level and at the employment level.<< Results >>The project will allow1. To elaborate a guide for the training and accompaniment of workers with disabilities in the Inclusive Company that favours their transition to the ordinary market, based on the identified good practices and others that may be agreed within the project.2. Identify the list of new competences foreseen for the Coach for Transition to be incorporated into the profile of the workers assigned to the services of personal and social adjustment and accompaniment of the worker with disability. 3. To identify different alternatives for the acquisition and/or validation of these competences by means of their evaluation through the EQVET certification or other training alternatives. 4. To formulate the bases for the creation of a training module and its content. 5. To formulate the basis for a dissemination campaign of proposals addressed to the authorities of the member countries to facilitate the consolidation of the figure of the Coach for Transition in the Inclusive Company.The expected results will lay the foundations to broaden and redefine, from a new and inclusive perspective, the curriculum and the training offer both for professionals working in labour integration and for those working in support services of the Inclusive Company, aligned with the European and United Nations political demands, and with the current economic cycle. In any case, once the project is completed, it will be up to the national associations of Inclusive Enterprises and the competent employment authorities to distribute and disseminate the guide and to develop recommendations or proposals for measures appropriate to the particular situation of protected employment in each country. On the other hand, entities in the education and consultancy sector, as well as business associations that directly include training services to inclusive enterprises in their portfolio, will be able to design specific training modules in their respective countries aimed at training support staff of Inclusive Enterprises in line with the demand and mandate of the European authority. In fact, collaboration and/or funding formulas with national authorities may be considered."

The idea of the project rose from following facts:- job opportunities: The EC identified Geo-ICT as part of the digital economy being vital for innovation, growth, jobs and European competitiveness. However, there is a clear mismatch between workforce demand and supply, resulting in this sector being a shortage occupation sector.- Geo-ICT including geospatial thinking is essential in education. It implies visualisation, manipulation, interpretation and explanation of information ... at different geographic scales using GI tools. Its importance has been acknowledged in the “European Reference Framework, Key Competences for Lifelong Learning” document published by the DG EAC.The project was thus designed to create a series of resources which introduce students to geospatial thinking using these GI tools, develop their ability to use them, be critical of them, based on a learning line from age 12 - 18 years.Although some GI-related materials are already available, teachers so far do not tend to use them. The main blocking factor was that the notion of GIScience, GI or spatial thinking is uncommon in the curriculum of almost all European countries. So, we needed to introduce and institutionalize it within the curricula, taking into account the level of difficulty of each task connected to the age group by using the concept of a learning line. A learning line is an educational term used for progression in the construction of knowledge and skills, designed to have an increasing level of complexity, starting from easier, more basic skills and knowledge, and developing into difficult, more challenging knowledge and skills. The GI Learner consortium consisted of seven European partners covering six countries: Belgium, UK, Spain, Austria, Poland and Romania. The partnership consisted of various types of organizations and institutions operating within the field of education, who each brought their own experience and expertise to the consortium: two universities, four secondary schools and a pan-European professional association. The schools were of different types and took students of broadly similar age range. Following the initial start-up meeting, the project was initiated by doing an in-depth analysis of the most important literature on learning lines and spatial thinking. Ten spatial thinking competencies then emerged following lengthy discussions and peer review and amendments and adaptations. For curriculum development purposes, they have been further developed into a learning line, using three levels of complexity (described as A, B and C).To link the competencies to real curriculum content all partners scanned the curricula from their countries to identify opportunities to introduce GIScience in a range of subjects.Next, for each year group different learning materials and exercises were written, trialled, evaluated and edited. These were linked to the curriculum and mapped to the competencies and level of difficulty for each group. To test the developed materials the cooperation of the target group was obtained: the pupils at the partner schools. They selected pupils K7 (12 y) and K10 (15 y) became the ‘guinea pigs’ for 3 years, as they had to ‘test the test’ by accessing the materials and give their feedback and provide their proposed amendments. This led to adjustments and guidelines when developing the newer exercises. To measure the impact of the learning lines on spatial thinking a self-test was developed, it consists of several parts, related to the selected learning competencies and level of complexity. The tests were completed at the start of the project (providing a zero-value) and at the end of each year to assess progress. Finally, a publication with amendments for inclusion into the national curricula was produced and disseminated among the different national Ministries of Education. This was intended to provide a rationale for the inclusion of GISciences within curriculum change, and perhaps also by qualification awarding bodies.Materials and resources will continue to remain freely available online (shared under a Creative Commons license). Translations have been completed in all the languages of the project partners involved, additionally also a French translation was completed to widen access .GILearner materials are already starting to be used in teacher training programmes in the countries involved in the project. Within the timeframe of reporting on the GI Learner project it has not been possible to evaluate the long-term impact on dissemination to Ministries of Education. However, the development and use of GI learning tools has been encouraged by the involvement of a GIS company ESRI in the Digital Skills and Jobs Coalition, whereby they provide free access to their Cloud-based platform to many thousands of secondary schools across Europe.