The effective involvement of stakeholders
The project includes a series of cross sectoral tables actively involving a group of selected stakeholders. In each country, the partners manage a serie of small meetings with VET providers, people representing SMEs and representative public bodies.
The goal of the meetings, as foreseen in the project design phase, was the active involvement of the direct beneficiary of the VET2B platform: the final users – VET providers and SMEs – and the potential official promoters – public bodies in the education and labour market sectors.
The cross-sectoral meetings have been conducted in all the partner’s countries, during the platform implementation phase. During the meetings many interesting suggestions have been collected.
Suggestions
The following are examples of the contribution of ideas by the participants that we’ll consider for the further development of the platform:
- a possible interaction between VETs should be considered, and not only between VETs and SMEs, because a VET may need a service that could be provided by another VET.
- Since many of the services provide to SMEs will be coincident with classes time, it will be necessary that VETs will be flexible to “free” students from classroom.
- On the platform it would be useful to upload a document by which the VET provider – that offers a service or a product – and the SME – that requires a service or a product – could sign a partnership (a document describing: aims of the project, agreement about time and operating modes, etc.).
- It is easier to offer services than products (the services can be realised in an immediate way, while the product needs a longer time that could not always coincide with the time of the “client” SME).
- It could be useful, in the platform startup phase, to focus on services that seem to be easier to offer, such as catering.
- The effective commitment of the political decision makers, at regional level, is crucial.