Partners
Leading Partners
ASET is a National Awarding body recognised in the UK by DfES, the Learning and Skills Council and all relevant government departments and agencies. Although we are a very modern Awarding Body, using the latest techniques for quality management, assessment and communications, ASET can trace its roots back through regional advisory councils and examining boards to the 1920s.
ASET works extensively across the UK and has a growing International network. In the UK more than 3,000 ASET learning programmes are delivered by over 500 licensed centres including FE colleges, universities, sixth form and community colleges, LEAs, employers, government agencies, training companies and not-for-profit organisations.
BDF is an SME active in both research and training fields in the Balearic Islands. BDF is active in the fields of technology transfer to SMEs, e-learning systems and interactive multimedia applications developments and, of particular importance to this project, in initial and continuous training. BDF works closely with regional actors and social partners in the hotel, catering, travel and tourism sectors and much of their work in both Research and Development and training is targeted for this sector. They will therefore be ideally placed to contribute to the development of the model and any modifications required either for the hospitality sector and / or the “Mediterranean” informal learning and accreditation culture. One of BDF’s clients is the Hotel Federation of Mallorca and they also co-operate with the Playa de Palma Hotel association, FETUR – the Federation of Commerce and services association. These employer links will be critical in the project developments. They will also carry out piloting in the Balearics. As they work closely with the Institute de las Qualificacions Professionals de les Illes Balears, they will be able to contribute to the development and the implementation of the accreditation model in Spain. In terms of dissemination activities, BDF have a network of over 300 partners across the EU as a result of participation as well as being members of Cedefops’s teacher training network TTnet, Prometeus and EUR-BIT E.E.I.G network.
Doncaster Education City is an exciting new partnership bringing together Doncaster College, Doncaster Metropolitan Borough Council, Learning and Skills Council South Yorkshire and the Regional Development Agency Yorkshire Forward. It seeks to address many challenges concerning skill inequalities, skill needs not being met and productivity still being relatively low. Two of its targeted vocational areas are hospitality / catering as well as Engineering. Doncaster College as the training organisation in Doncaster Education City has a well-established reputation in vocational training for the engineering sector and because of an outstanding inspection record has recently applied to be a COVE for the Hospitality Sector. It will therefore be able to be involved with some expertise in the piloting of the methodology with SMEs who have been identified by both the EEF and another stakeholder in the partnership, Doncaster Chamber of Commerce. As well as Doncaster Education City itself, both Yorkshire Forward and the Learning and Skills Council will utilise their cluster boards and initiatives to disseminate the project results.
Edexcel is one of the leading QCA approved awarding bodies in the UK and is now part of the Pearson Group. They are currently trialling a number of uses of technology for assessment procedures and already work on a number of projects with P8. In this project it will contribute the rigour necessary for the development of an accreditation process for informal learning in the Workplace and will be able to support other partners in their dialogues with national accreditation bodies. It will be a significant figure to assist in the dissemination process particularly in the UK through QCA and also through its newly developed BTEC Academy which has amongst its members both training providers and employers.
EifEL is a not-for-profit European professional association for e-learning practitioners. It currently has members, both individual and corporate in 12 member states. The institute has produced a complete set of standards of competence covering all e-learning activities, working with more than 50 practitioners in Europe. EifEL has experience not only in participating but also leading transnational projects. Currently it is intimately involved in the creation of a European Centre for Quality in e-learning with support from the Poitou-Charentes Region. In this project, EifEL will be responsible for ensuring that the European e-learning quality standards are applied to all aspects of the project. In addition, they will be the channel for other participants not formally partners at this stage but significant players e.g. Université de Technologie de Compiègne and Union des Industries Métallurgiques et Minières. In addition, they will liaise with French-speakers in MRS in the translation of the Blueprint into French and will provide the necessary links for the provision of French Case Studies for the Blueprint. Finally, they will utilise their extensive pan-EU contacts to disseminate activities on an on-going basis. They have extensive experience in this area e.g. they produced the Prometeus newsletter which was the initiative’s main dissemination tool.
Greta du Velay is an umbrella vocational training organisation with 35 trainers and a network of 200 consultants. Over 50% of its work is with companies and its specialisms include the two sectors targeted for the development of the model and its piloting in this project. (Production / mechanical engineering and cooking / tourism.) It has also been working closely with the Ministry of Education to develop innovative training systems involving validation of experience, as well as diagnosis, advice and training. In this project, its role is to assist in the development of the overall model and any cultural modifications which might need to be made for France. It will then pilot the model with engineering SMEs who currently constitute its client group but it will also link with the EEF’s sister organisation to identify other SMES who are not currently part of its clientele and maybe not committed to learning. Following on it will then be involved in testing the model with the service sector in the Auvergne region where tourism and the associated hospitality skills are a key sector.
The MRS Consultancy Ltd. is a limited company which has two departments, one specialising in e-learning - research, strategies and funding relating to its implementation as well as advising on content and learner support. The other department focuses on work with SMEs, in particular in terms of strategic planning and tactical marketing. It has some multi-lingual and bi-lingual staff. Both departments worked with MKM (see below) in the development of the Strategy Blueprint.
One of the Directors of MRS has been Chair of the Corporate Special Interest Group of the EC funded Prometeus initiative and has recently completed research to find Case Studies of Good Practice of e-learning in enterprises across the EU.
The company has successfully co-ordinated two previous Leonardo projects, Objective 4 and Adapt activities, and more recently a large Objective 3 project targeting SMEs in Y&H. It also has a large contract with the RDA to manage the Regional ICT Skills Strategy for the Region.
MRS will be the contractor and will be responsible for ensuring that the project targets are met and results achieved within the strict criteria of Leonardo funding. It will also use its experiences in the field of e-learning to co-ordinate the integration of the Strategy Blueprint into the virtual learning platform with its associated learning community. Working closely with EifEL it will ensure that full quality processes are in place and implemented at all stages of the project. It will also translate the Blueprint, working with partners in FR and IT Dissemination will take place through its EU contacts within the Prometeus Association and regional through the RDA.
MyKnowledgeMap (MKM) is a rapidly expanding provider of e-learning and personnel management applications based in York. Formed in 2000 the company now provides a range of advanced internet learning solutions including Course design & development, skill assessment, gap analysis, competency management systems, personal records and associated appraisal system, bespoke learning management systems and the mapping of knowledge required for optimum performance by job role.
RKW is a nationwide network that is committed to promote the success of small and medium-sized companies. It has close links with a number of ministries as well as social partners. Altogether across the twelve associations, RKW has 5000 SMEs in its membership. It is therefore ideally placed both to contribute to the development of the model being the representative of the dual system (Cedefop cultural model) and having as one of its key aims, the support by innovation of the qualifications of the workforce in the enterprises of its membership. It also has strong links with various Ministries such as the Federal Ministry of Education and Research and the Ministry of Work and Social Affairs and is therefore well placed to gain feedback on the proposed model and accreditation methodology. It has recently finished projects on: the stabilization of regional qualification and innovation networks for wholesalers and retail enterprises, investigation and evaluation of successful qualification and personnel development concepts in respect of their usability in SMEs.
TAF: The Continuing Education Development Foundation (CEDeF) is a non-governmental, not-for-profit organisation established in 1998. It has a focus on the field of continuing and distance education in Latvia and nearby countries. It has close links with the Ministry of Education in Latvia. The Foundation promotes the development of the system of continuing education in Latvia. Currently it has started developing both quality assurance and accreditation systems for continuing education. Roles in this project will be to contribute to the development of the generic model and then to use this to contribute to its implementation in Latvia once a more sophisticated system has been put into place for continuing vocational education in Latvia. The Foundation also act as a networking and “broker” organisation both within Latvia and with international partners. All activities of the Foundation are directed towards facilitating the European Union integration process and therefore it will be a key dissemination partner with the government, educational sector and the industrial / business sector in Latvia and other countries.
The Swedish TelePedagogic Knowledge Centre, or STPKC, is a Knowledge Broker organisation in the areas of telematics, multimedia, e-learning and e-commerce. Its market covers not only Sweden but also eastern and western Europe as well as Asia and Africa. It has a network of international partners, having been established in 1993. It has become recognised as a national and European knowledge broker and has been involved in the Midas-net, national node, co-ordinatorship of ELLI.net and the European Learning Cities network. Its role in this project will be to liaise with MKM and other partners in the provision on its web servers of a virtual platform on which the engineering sector’s virtual learning community will communicate. This platform has been extensively and successfully utilised in many scenarios across many member states. STPKC will bring not only its extensive technical but also its methodological expertise and solid experiences with network handling and in initiating and maintaining collaborative initiatives on a local, national as well pan EU basis. STPKC will also liaise with VI, the Swedish equivalent of the EEF and other sectoral contacts. STPKC will utilise its extensive networks to disseminate fully on an on-going basis the activities and results of the projects. Its Director has been President of European Lifelong Learning Initiative (ELLI), Vice Chair of the Prometeus Initiative and continues to be a Board Member of the Swedish Government Agency of Knowledge transfer (REK), the adviser to the Swedish Government agency for the national NETuniversity initiative.