To help meet the changing skill requirements of today’s job market, the project “ET-struct” developed new ways of foreseeing and responding to regional labour demands.
- 19 November 2014
The Cohesion policy states that there is a need to invest ‘in human and physical capital which is critical to growth and employment potential’. In particular, the ‘education and training and adaptability of workers’ was not being adequately addressed. These are exactly the topics that ET-struct successfully addressed, coming up with viable and practical solutions for all European regions.
The “Economic Educational Territorial – Structure” project was set up to tackle regional employment problems, such as the phenomenon of “brain drain”, as well as to strengthen the connection between education systems and the application of new technology and business practices.
Taking in regional political, economic and educational factors, the project developed an innovative, dynamic, flexible and systematic model called "ET-Inventory" that predicts employment needs. “Using this model, surveys were conducted in the 10 partner regions, to determine what skills employers are looking for and to give investors insights into the economies of those regions,” says project manager Stuart Simpson.
Tools for a better management of labour market needs
From these surveys, an e-learning platform called "ET-LearnTrain" was developed. This platform offers online and on-site training for regional work forces in the project regions in Austria, the Czech Republic, Germany, Italy, Poland, Slovenia and Ukraine. The project also devised 24 training modules covering such areas as entrepreneurship, ICT support, social skills, intercultural communication skills, vocational orientation and technical training. A total of 517 people were trained using the modules.
Another key outcome of the project was the "ET-Academy", a management handbook based on the experiences and lessons learned in implementing the "ET-LearnTrain" platform. The handbook can become a useful tool for other regional authorities in Europe who want to address structural changes in employment.
ET-struct also set up bodies, known as "regional management triangles", to ensure that regional labour needs and skills remain aligned. Finally, the project produced a document called "ET Management", which offers other European regions a blueprint for creating their own "management triangles".
Total investment and EU funding
Total investment for the project “Economic Educational Territorial - Structure” is EUR 2 600 800, of which the EU’s European Regional Development Fund is contributing EUR 2 058 635 from the operational programme “CENTRAL EUROPE” for the 2007 to 2013 programming period.