LEONARDO DA VINCI - From "innovation lab" to instrument for reform
URN: urn:nbn:de:0035-0075-0
Announced in late April, the new call for project proposals for the last two rounds of calls for tenders - 2005/2006 - for the Leonardo da Vinci European vocational education and training programme has a new focus: European pilot projects that implement the goals pursued by the so-called Copenhagen Process. This new focus goes hand-in-hand with a shift in the Leonardo da Vinci programme's definition - from "innovation laboratory" to an instrument for shaping change.
The European LEONARDO DA VINCI vocational education and training programme has for a long time rightly been considered an "innovation lab" that generates practice-oriented products and approaches to solutions to a variety of issues. The fact that education managers and practitioners in the field were already thinking in the dimension of European cooperation in the education field and had begun working in this direction was also a "soft" factor that contributed to the programme's success. 01
However, only the occasional Leonardo da Vinci project was able to achieve the objective of transferring relevant results to the vocational education and training system, primarily due to a lack of acceptance for the programme in this respect during its first phase (1995 - 1999) and to the fact that project budgets were not large enough for this. As a result, those responsible for the projects neglected to systematically incorporate new developments in efforts being undertaken to revise training profiles into their work. Only in the late 1990s - after a number of stakeholders began to use European projects as tools - did a change set in. The Leonardo da Vinci project Automotive Mechantronics Fitter conducted by the ITB Bremen and the University of Flensburg 02 provides one example for how the social partners can be successfully activated. Starting in December 1994, this project developed a core curriculum - basing its work on a study on the international automotive service sector - with country-specific versions for a "European occupational profile" and took steps in follow-up projects with the social partners to integrate it into the training regulations process. 03
Projects that produced results of note were also conducted in the continuing education and training field. Examples of such projects include the Solateur project conducted by the Münster Chamber of Small and Medium-sized Enterprises (Handwerkskammer) and the advanced training examination regulations for European trainer qualification which the Cologne Chamber of Small and Medium-sized Enterprises adopted under Section 42 of Germany's Crafts Code.
These projects demonstrated the potential the Leonardo da Vinci programme has to offer. Working under improved conditions (decentralization of the programme, larger project budgets, expanded responsibilities for the National Agency at Germany's Federal Institute for Vocational Training), the programme has been developing more fully during its second phase which began in 2000.
At the same time, the expectations held by those responsible for the programme and by the players on the vocational training policy stage that Leonardo da Vinci pilot projects - as European experiments 04 - will make a lasting contribution to changing vocational training practice has grown in tandem with education policy cooperation in Europe.
Main features of the European education process
One milestone in this development was the resolution of the Lisbon European Council held on March 23 - 24, 2000 which formulated the goal of making the Union "the most competitive and dynamic knowledge-based economy in the world".
This however would require boosting investment in education and making greater use of Community programmes (Socrates, Leonardo da Vinci, Youth). 05
The heads of state and government attending the Lisbon summit immediately proposed improving the transparency and the transferability of qualifications earned in other member states.
Guidelines combined with a timetable for achieving short-term and long-term goals were established as part of a "new open method of coordination" to ensure that action could be taken and that these goals would be achieved. In addition to this, the Council was able to reach a consensus on using indicators, benchmarking and peer review - previously controversial instruments.
Starting in February 2002, European education and training policy was given a substantial developmental boost by the Detailed Work Programme of the EU education ministers and the European Commission through 2010.
With this programme, Europe's education ministers and the European Commission carried out the European Council's instructions to submit a detailed work programme.
The objectives of this work programme in a nutshell:
- Europe will become a worldwide reference for the outstanding quality of its education and training systems.
- Education and training systems in Europe will become compatible enough to allow citizens to freely move between them and take advantage of their diversity.
- Qualifications, knowledge and skills acquired abroad will be recognized so that they can be validated throughout Europe.
- Europeans of all ages will have access to life-long learning.
- Europe will cooperate with other economic regions and become the most-favoured destination of students, scholars and researchers from regions outside Europe.
The Detailed Work Programme exhibits a hitherto unknown level of bindingness. Agreement was reached not only on three strategic objectives with 13 associated objectives and 42 key issues and on the use of indicators, benchmarks, peer review and periodic monitoring but also on a timetable. 06
And finally, the Bruges Initiative launched by the European Directors General for Vocational Training and the Copenhagen Declaration adopted by the EU education ministers and the European Commission (with the social partners also being taken into account) are to be cited as driving forces behind this development. 07
The working groups set up in this connection as part of the Copenhagen Process deal with the following issues in particular:
- The creation of a single framework for transparency of vocational qualifications
- The quality of European education and training systems and forms of education and training
- The introduction of a credit transfer system in the vocational training field that is analogous to the ECTS system
- Non-formally and informally acquired skills
- Teacher and trainer instruction
Three conclusions can be drawn from these developments:
1. Agreement exists on creating a European education area. The problems involved in transparency, recognition and certification of qualifications must be solved in order to improve cross-border mobility between systems.
2. The education and training sector is acknowledged as a pillar in the Lisbon Strategy.
3. At European level, the Leonardo da Vinci programme is considered to be a central tool for implementing this strategy.
Examples of successful Leonardo da Vinci projects
The sector-specific approaches supported in the Copenhagen Process can have a major impact here because the degree to which relevant players have been integrated into the work of the respective project influences the level of acceptance the project results receive.
As the Automotive Mechantronics Fitter project shows, German Leonardo da Vinci projects have preferred a sector-specific approach from the start. Nonetheless there is still a general need to clarify and develop the sector-specific approach since the education discussion varies from country to country due to the differences in education systems. It is clear however that European sector projects must involve the social partners if they are to be successful.
Examples of this include the RecyOccupation project conducted by the University of Flensburg which developed a core European occupational profile for the recycling sector and the Deutsche Bahn railway system's EU Transport Services Clerk occupational profile.
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