Modelling informal learning and transversal competences in the voluntary service experience to increase employment and mobility of citizens

LEVER aims at “Modelling informal learning and transversal competences in the voluntary service experience to increase employment and mobility of citizens”. The voluntary service may provide a relevant learning set where people develop and practice transversal skills in the field. The chance to value such skills and to have them recognized according to a common reference framework is significant for the world of work, the voluntary organisations and the volunteers themselves. In fact, it facilitates the mutual recognition and the mobility at local, national and international level. It provides profit and no profit organisations with a very effective way to nurture and improve the transversal competences that may influence on both personal and business performance. It allows volunteers to get a better grip on their personal-key competences and to focus on specific life opportunities in work and social life for own personal and professional development. For that, the project pursued three main objectives:•The development of a mutual trust area, where the partnership and the stakeholders at local and European level can share a common framework when dealing with significant transversal competences and their validation.•The raise of awareness on volunteering as a non-formal /informal learning set for the benefit of the world of work, the voluntary context and the person •The implementation of internal services for volunteers, by voluntary organizations, to foster the enhancement and the formal recognition of acquired skillsAfter a first context analysis, LEVER designed the model, trained the operators, tutors and assessors, and finally carried out the testing in each project country. The results and outcome concern:-A cross-national survey, a report of the state-of-art in each country (Italy,Poland, Spain, The Netherland, Denmark) in terms of: existing informal/non-formal validation systems; emerging transversal competences of interest for both labor market and voluntary sector; good practices in deploying Validation of Prior Learning and valuing volunteering experiences as competence learning set.-The LEVER Model, made up of a Competence Standard and a Validation Process. The former defines a first catalogue of 13 transversal competences that volunteering can develop and labor market appreciates. The standard provides: general competence descriptions; information related to the voluntary and the labor market perspectives, to the EU key competences, to the EQF levels; examples of proofing documentation; indicators and criteria to assess them in a transparent and objective way. The latter defines the 5 steps process to carry out the competence validation, in full compliancy with the European guidelines for the Formal, informal and non formal learning validation (CEDEFOP, 2015) as well as with the local and national already existing systems. A full report explains the model, the underpinning approach, the tools and the final guidelines and recommendation for local and EU policy makers. A synthetic web version is also provided on the project website.-The LEVER toolkits, the tools at use of volunteers, tutors and assessors. Each partner developed the local language version.-The LEVER webtool, a free multilanguage web application to support the validation process and the assessment at use of volunteers, tutors, assessors and validation centres. -Five national pilots involved about 80 volunteers, interested in certification, and 143 operators, from voluntary and profit organisations, to be trained as assessors and tutors. The validation released 63 LEVER certifications, 12 more paths were just completed and only 5 candidates withdrew.-The AT Training program, a 5-module based program, describing the learning outcome, the potential resources, the references, the suggested activities and methods. Designed to be flexibly used according to the local context needs, it refers to three main objectives: VPL introduction and sensitization; specific training for VPL practitioners; opening debates on quality and integration with employment policies. The main target groups addressed by the project are: •Volunteers •Voluntary service associations and their operators•Employer associations and enterprises •Training centers/ teachers•Certification bodies•Labour Policy makers •Young people,students and familiesTwo multiplier events per country with local stakeholders and the continuing monitoring with the participant target groups guaranteed to meet the market's needs and the LEVER quality. The final recommendation and the sustainability plan also benefitted from the outcome emerged. Dissemination exploited the LEVER facebook community, EPALE platform and sectorial online magazines. Three web videos introduce the project, the achieved outcome and report the stakeholders perspectives and further purposes as emerged in the interviews during the Final International Conference (Sondrio, December 2016).