The partners, public and private organisations, are all specialized in adult education with experience of collaborative work at European level. They are willing to experiment the deployment of badges for their learners and to try to spread the concept in their local and regional environment. It is important to overcome analysis and theories about the added value and impact of Open Badges to use them at ground level. They need to become more known by ordinary people, including employers and intermediary organisations supporting adults towards employment.
Greta du Velay
The Greta du Velay is a public training organisation gathering 21 educational institutions such as secondary schools, high school and colleges under the wing of the Ministry of Education. Certified ISO 9001 since 1998, it exists since 1975. It employs 4 training advisers and 40 trainers. It delivers around 300.000 training hours per year (welcoming between 2000-2500 learners). It is active in the Velay, a rural area in the South of the Auvergne Region.
Half of the activity consists in supporting small and medium companies in their learning processes : analysis of training needs, delivery of training, evaluation and follow up. Courses are provided in various areas in response to the local needs such as hospitality, industry (automation tools, maintenance...) and tertiary sectors (management, languages, computing...).
The other half consists in supporting social and vocational inclusion (unemployed, migrants, young adults with cognitive disabilities...), development of key competences, preparation to exams and to competitions for employment in the public sector.
The Greta works closely to all non profit associations and public organisations working with young adults (such as Missions locales, social workers, Cultural centers, housing centers, information centers for youth and for women and families...).
It is member of the Greta network covering the whole French territory (191 Greta and 4350 training locations).
The Greta du Velay has a specific transversal department for managing innovative projects. This laboratory is dedicated to the improvement of learning and it works in close collaboration with all training departments of Greta du Velay. Since 1992, it has participated to several research projects in a European frame for education and training and for vocational integration. It has developed several resources that are still used by the community of professionals to improve social and vocational integration (printed or interactive). Note that all this work is capitalised on the web site http://cri.velay.greta.fr (with a free access to all ressources).
Acción Laboral
“Acción Laboral” is nation-wide operating non-profit organisation with more than 40 employees and 11 offices all over Spain. The name of the organisation, “Acción Laboral” (Labour Action), indicates its main activities: labour market insertion and outplacement by the development of holistic programs.
The objective of these programs is to improve the employability of unemployed people. The programs include complementary actions such as counselling, soft/hard skills training, coaching, psychological support, labour intermediation, entrepreneurship activities, etc.
Acción Laboral offers different types of training courses nationwide:
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Training for workers: in collaboration with several social agents. Nationwide, approximately 750 courses of this type each year are provided.
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Training for unemployed
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Employability programmes, especially those focused to disadvantaged groups.
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Vocational Occupational Training of 300-600 hours each course, principally aimed at long-term unemployed people. Each year nationwide around 100 courses about job search, 50 courses to improve specific skills, and 60 of the Vocational Occupational Training are offered.
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European projects (European Globalization Fund, Grundtvig, Erasmus+, Europeaid…).
Since 2011 is accredited as official provider by the National Public Employment Service.
Acción Laboral has developed a working method which allows the organization to carry out programs anywhere and in a clear defined time, achieving very satisfying results. The social purpose of the organisation is to improve the quality of life, pointing out its efforts to outplacement and employability.
Acción Laboral is working together with National and Regional Public Employment Services, labour market stakeholders (trade unions, employers associations) and private clients. We have a wide experience in public employment programmes.
Volkshochschule im Landkreis Cham e.V.
The Volkshochschule im Landkreis Cham e.V. counts as one of the largest adult education centres in Bavaria. It is the largest adult educational provider in the District of Cham, it consists of over 70 full-time employees, over 300 free-lancers in 30 different locations. In addition to the traditional language and culture related courses - standard fare for adult education centres - we also match our program to the needs of the people within the region to provide them with opportunities for attaining vocational qualifications and obtaining employment.
Every year an impressive number of young people pass the (Qualifying) Certificate of Secondary Education and for most of them we can find an apprenticeship or training position. A lot of adults find their way back to the labour market after taking one of our further education training courses. The VHS Cham provides the vocational courses which focus not only on specific knowledge and skills related to the profession, but also development of the social skills, entrepreneurship skills and bringing European values close to the citizens.
The VHS Cham focuses also on the development of new curricula in the context of ECVET, recognition and validation of competences as well as guidance counselling for different target groups.
It has been implementing European projects in the field of vocational and adult education since 2004.
Ljudska Univerza Ptuj
Public University of Ptuj is a public institution for adult education. We were established by the Municipality of Ptuj for educational services, the implementation of which is in the public interest. Our principal activity is to educate adults who are not included in the regular school and university education (counseling, information and secondary education). There are 11 employees at Public University, but we engage more than 50 external experts each year. The number of our participants varies between 1.000 ? 1.500 each year.
Our mission is adult education and counseling. With rich experience and expertise we want to motivate and monitor our participants on their path to success, encourage them and believe in the importance of lifelong learning. We are offering a wide range of programs, depending on current demand and following future trends. We offer also possibilities for distance learning and have experience in virtual classrooms.
Adult Education at the Public University of Ptuj consists of six fields: formal education (from primary school to faculty education), informal public educational programs (programs TSL - Training for success in life and a courses in English and German), vocational training, non-formal education (foreign language and computer courses, University of the Third Life Period, courses for companies, trainings in the field of legislation, communication skills ...), activities of adult education in the national interest (Centre for intergenerational learning, Knowledge exchange, study circles, self-learning Centre) and additional professional assistance to participants (Counseling Centre Ptuj).
In the years 2008 - 2013 we were the leading organization for several projects on the field of lifelong education, ICT courses for elder people, workshops for unemployed, project and activities for raising the level of literacy, workshops for younger people for motivating them to finish their education and a lot more.
LUP is nowadays involved in national and international projects, currently leading one Grundtvig multilateral project and participating as partner in Erasmus+ 2014. International project are becoming more and more important each year, so it is important to us, to gain new experience and meet members from other similar partners from EU. Our work at lifelong learning is recognized by local stakeholders and from the side of our municipality.
Participants come from different target groups: unemployed, long time unemployed, women after 50, senior citizens, people with learning difficulties, drop-outs and people with special needs.
We are a proud owner of the quality sign POKI, which means, we offer quality education to adults.
Public University of Ptuj has the ability and equipment needed for implementation of all proposed project activities. Among our expertise are research capabilities, consisting of needs analysis and state of the art research, as educators of adults we have a lot of experience in preparation of different educational programs and modules for implementation of skills. As project coordinators in other EU and national projects we are experienced also in elaboration and validation activities, project management, financial management and dissemination actions. Since 2010, we are also working on the field of distant learning, with activities connected with e-learning implementation and promotion of ICT skills. We are experienced organizer of conferences, seminars and different dissemination and exploitation events.
Folkuniversitetet Kursverksamheten vid Lunds Universitetet
Folkuniversitetet is an adult educational association that offers a wide range of adult education all over Sweden. It is an association of five foundations: the university extensions attached to the Universities of Stockholm, Uppsala, Göteborg, Lund and Umeå. We have a broad open educational program in a variety of subjects; we also run upper secondary schools, schools in higher vocational education, courses for seniors and training, labour market education and further education and training for working life.
Folkuniversitetet is independent of all political, religious and commercial interests.
International cooperation, pedagogic development, democracy and focus on the individual are central values for us. We have given important contributions to development of Swedish education and training, for example evening gymnasiums, language centres, Swedish for immigrants, college and ICT-based education. Visions and ideas for better learning methods are developed and tested in project groups, often in international cooperation. Coaching, mentorship, validation, entrepreneurship, learning in working life, empowerment and active guidance based on individual needs are examples of areas we are developing, and implementing to our own organisation.