Exchanging about transparency of qualifications within healthcare across borders.

For many years, Europe has been confronting a demographic change. The effects of an aging society are visible in many sectors but particularly in the healthcare sector. One of the strategies to overcome the in many ways severe skill shortages of healthcare professionals in Europe is transnational mobility on and to the European labour market. A precondition of labour market mobility within and to Europe is, however, transparency and recognition of skills and qualifications. It allows identifying (individual) skill gaps, qualification requirements on institutional and regional level and supports the development of curricula. Against this background many European projects (e.g. HCEU, Pro-Nursing or CATE) with numerous excellent results have been implemented in the last years. The objective of the EUcareNet project was (and remains) to generate synergies between those projects and their results and make them accessible through targeted training offers to their potential end users.The EUcareNet project brought together the promoters and partners of (European) projects and initiatives having developed/ developing tools and instruments in order to foster transparency and recognition of skills and qualifications as well as work-place integration of of migrant professionals within healthcare. This was done in order to lay grounds for the establishment of a network on the exchange of good practice among those players all having an interest in the practical application of their developments and at the same time in the development of complementary and innovative new ideas to support overcoming of the skill shortage within healthcare in Europe. Furthermore EUcareNet facilitated the practical application of those project results related to transparency and recognition of skills and competences within healthcare by developing and implementing a concrete and comprehensive training experience including the necessary knowledge and skills on relevant background concepts that are a fundamental requirements for their successful application in praxis.All together the EUcareNet project aimed to strengthen the practical application of European project results in education, recognition and human resource development praxis and the cooperation among consortia of European projects and initiatives all aiming to contribute to overcoming skill shortages within healthcare in Europe.