Erasmus+: KA1: Individuele leermobiliteit: beroepsonderwijs

What are the aims of a mobility project? Education, training and youth activities play a key role in providing people of all ages with the necessary means to  participate  actively  in  the  labour  market  and  in  society  at  large.  Projects under  this  Action  promote transnational mobility activities targeting learners (students, trainees, apprentices, young people and volunteers), and  staff  (professors,  teachers,  trainers,  youth workers,  and  people  working  in  organisations  active  in  the education, training and youth fields) and aiming to: 

• support learners in the acquisition of competences (knowledge, skills and attitudes) with a view to improving their personal development and employability in the European labour market; 
• support  the  professional  development  of  those who work in  education, training and  youth with a  view to innovating and improving the quality of teaching, training and youth work across Europe;  
• enhance notably the participants' foreign languages competence;  
• raise  participants'  awareness  and  understanding  of  other  cultures  and  countries,  offering  them  the opportunity to build networks of international contacts, to actively participate in society and develop a sense of European citizenship and identity; 
• increase the capacities, attractiveness and international dimension of organisations active in the education, training and youth fields so that they are able to offer activities and programmes that better respond to the needs of individuals, within and outside Europe; 
• reinforce synergies and transitions between formal, non-formal education, vocational training, employment and entrepreneurship; 
• ensure a better recognition of competences gained through the learning periods abroad. 

This  Action  also  supports  international  mobility  activities  from  or  to  Partner  Countries  in  the  fields  of  higher education and youth. In this context, the further aims of the Action are to:   

• enhance the attractiveness of higher education in Europe and support European higher education institutions in competing on the higher education market worldwide; 
• support  the  internationalisation,  attractiveness  and  modernisation  of  higher  education  institutions  outside Europe in view of promoting the development of Partner Countries; 
• promote non-formal learning and cooperation in the field of youth with Partner Countries.  

In addition, in line with the annual Work Programme adopted by the Commission, priority will be given to projects that  pursue  one  or  more  of  the  relevant  priorities  described  in the introduction chapters  on  "Education  and Training" and "Youth" in Part B of this Guide.   What is a mobility project?   Organisations  active  in  the  fields  of  education,  training  and  youth  will  receive  support  from  the  Erasmus+ Programme  to  carry  out  projects  promoting  different  types  of  mobility.  A mobility  project  will  consist  of  the following stages:  

• Preparation (including practical arrangements, selection of participants, set up of agreements with partners and participants, linguistic/intercultural/task-related preparation of participants before departure); 
• Implementation of the mobility activities;  
• Follow-up  (including  the  evaluation  of  the  activities,  the  formal  recognition  -  where  applicable  -  of  the learning outcomes of participants during the activity, as well as the dissemination and use of the project's outcomes).  

An  important  innovation  introduced  in  Erasmus+  compared  to  many  actions  of  mobility  supported  under  past European programmes is that Erasmus+ reinforces the support offered to the participants of mobility activities in improving their foreign language competences before and during their stay abroad. A European online linguistic support service will be gradually launched by the European Commission starting from the year 2014 which will provide  the  participants  in  long-term  mobility  activities  with  the  opportunity  to  assess  their  knowledge  of  the language  they  will  use  to  study,  work  or  volunteer  abroad  as  well  as  to  follow  an  online  language  course  to improve their competences (more details on the support to language learning can be found in Annex I).     VET learners and teachers: Learners' mobility: 

• a VET traineeship abroad for up to 12 months: this activity is open to both apprentices and students in vocational training schools. These learners undertake a vocational training placement in another country. Learners are hosted either at a workplace (in an enterprise or other relevant organisation) or at a VET  school (with periods of work-based learning in an enterprise or other relevant organisation).  Each  mobility  activity  is  set  within  a  quality  framework  previously  agreed  upon  by  the  sending  and  receiving organisations to ensure a high level of quality for the activity, including a "Learning Agreement".  The  learning  outcomes  are  formally  recognised  and  validated  at  an  institutional  level,  course  contents  are adapted  as  necessary  to  ensure  that  the  mobility  period  abroad  fits  well  with  the  course  in  which  the apprentice/VET student is enrolled. In order to strengthen the employability of young people and to facilitate their transition to the labour market, recent graduates from VET schools or companies providing VET to apprentices can participate in this activity as well. 

Staff mobility: 

• teaching/training assignments: this activity allows staff of VET schools to teach at a partner VET school abroad. It also allows staff of enterprises to provide training at a VET organisation abroad.  
• staff  training:  this  activity  supports  the  professional  development  of  VET  staff  in  the  form  of  a  work placement or a job shadowing/observation period abroad in an enterprise or any other VET organisation. 

Erasmus+ supports learning mobility of staff that: 

• is  framed  into  a  strategic  approach  of  the  participating  organisations  (aimed  at  modernising  and internationalising their mission);  
• responds  to  clearly  identified  staff  development  needs  and  is  accompanied  by  appropriate  selection, preparation and follow-up measures; 
• ensures  that  the  learning  outcomes  of  participating  staff  are  properly  recognised  and  ensures  that  the learning outcomes are disseminated and widely used within the organisation.