Iðan participates in international projects that support our members and member associations. The purpose is to enhance professional skills and share expert knowledge. The goal of collaborative projects is to improve quality and share innovations across professions and trades. It is also important to promote work across borders.
Pilot project on micro-learning and micro-credentials
In early 2024, an agreement was finalised for the participation of IÐAN Education Centre in the development project Upskilling the EU Hospitality Industry with Portable Micro-Credentials. The project received a 900,000-euro grant from the EU's KA2 – Erasmus+ grant programme and aims to develop micro-learning and micro-credentials to support continuing education and upskilling for employees in the hotel and restaurant sector. The project falls under Partnerships for Innovation - Forward-Looking Projects.
The project is a three-year initiative managed by UCN (University College of Northern Denmark) in Denmark. The project participants are:
Across the EU, there is a strong focus on developing and implementing micro-courses and digital badges. Micro-learning, supported by secure certification through digital credentials, is increasingly seen as a way to make education more accessible and to help people acquire the skills and competences needed in a constantly changing labour market.
This form of learning does not replace traditional education. Rather, it provides supplementary training that can respond more flexibly to individual learning needs and labour market demands.
The MCEU project is funded by the European Union. Views and opinions expressed are however those of the author(s) only and do not necessarily reflect those of the European Union or the European Education and Culture Executive Agency (EACEA). Neither the European Union nor the granting authority can be held responsible for them.
This innovation and pilot project focuses on the digital transformation of quality recognition for exemplary companies that send and/or host apprentices and journeymen for workplace training.
The project group brings together the Federation of Industries in France, a French vocational school offering initial and continuing education, a Danish vocational school offering initial and continuing education, an Austrian association for student and staff exchange, an Austrian research laboratory, and a Danish start-up specialising in digital transformation.
https://www.artisanatpaysdelaloire.fr/
https://ifa.or.at/en/go-austria/
https://www.artisanat.fr/
https://www.eucsyd.dk/
https://3s.co.at/en/
https://diplomasafe.com/
EQAMOB Website
VISKA is an Erasmus KA3 Policy Reform project managed by the Education and Training Service Centre and IÐAN Education Centre on behalf of the Ministry of Education and Children. Skills Norway supervised the project on behalf of the Norwegian Ministry of Education. Other partners were from Belgium, the Flemish Ministry of Education, and from Ireland, Quality and Qualifications Ireland – QQI, with Cork Institute of Technology as the research partner. The project started in February 2017 and concluded in 2020.
Brochures about the VISKA project:
Viska - Icelandic
Viska - English
Viska - Polish
The NIKK project ran from 2017-2018 and focused on gender-segregated educational and career choices in vocational and industrial training, and how to raise awareness of equal opportunities in vocational training regardless of gender, with a special emphasis on workplace learning. A report on gender equality in vocational and industrial training was published in 2019 (Jämställdhet i arbetsplatsförlagt lärande, Norden). Its findings were conclusive and called for action in the labour market.
The project received a grant from the Nordic Information on Gender (Nordisk information för kunskap om kön) and was funded by the Nordic Council of Ministers.
PaintingSkillsAcademy (PSA) was a 3-year Erasmus+ collaborative project involving 24 partners in Europe. The project started in 2019 and concluded in 2022. The project's objective was to develop, strengthen, and discuss basic education and continuing education in the painting trade and to establish a platform for teaching and training in the painting trade in Europe. Opportunities in the validation of prior learning and the assessment and recognition of education and work experience in Europe were also addressed. Specifically, the skills and competence criteria for jobs in the painting trade in Europe were examined. The final report of the project can be read here.
Iðan Education Centre participated in an international project called Development of vocational education aiming at social inclusion – Polish-Scandinavian exchange of experience and good practice. The project started in 2021 and ended in 2022.The project was funded by EEA Grants, which are financed by Iceland, Liechtenstein and Norway.Their goal is to contribute to a more equal Europe, both socially and economically, and to strengthen the ties between Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway and 15 beneficiary states in Europe. The main objective of the project was to improve the professional competence and language skills of the participants and to establish a collaboration aimed at improving the quality of vocational education. Our purpose with the project was to get to know the education system and working life in Poland and Norway and to build connections. This collaboration helped us to better understand the Polish and Norwegian education systems and consequently provide better service to our members and companies.
Link to the final reports of the project in English and Polish:
The MOB’ INNOV – Mobility and Innovation project began in 2019 and concluded in 2022.
The project's objective was to improve information about staff mobility and to create a benchmark for what a school, association, or company needs to possess to be considered a centre of excellence in vocational education. The outcomes of this project are very useful for Iðan's stakeholders.
Representatives for the mobility and innovation project come from the Ministry of Education in Catalonia GENCAT, EUC-SYD vocational school in Denmark, IFA, a national association for student exchange owned by Austrian industry stakeholders, and from France there are two representatives: CMA, the national association of employers in crafts and trades, and the vocational school Les Compagnons du devoir, and from Iceland, there are representatives from Iðan Education Centre.
In this project, the partners of Erasmus+ Ambassadors worked to increase the knowledge and interest of companies in sending and receiving students in student exchanges in Europe. The project started in 2020 and ended in 2022.In addition to Iceland, the participating countries in the project were France, Belgium, Italy, and Austria.The final report of the project can be found here: Ambassador final report