On June 22-23 the second transnational meeting of the European Project EC-ASE: European Certification of Advisors/Educators of Social Economy that is materialised, with the Institute of Entrepreneurship Development as lead partner.

The second meeting was materialised in Cracow, Poland with the hospitality of the University of Economics of Cracow (partner of the project), which constitutes one of the oldest and most significant universities in Europe.

The meeting focused on the process of certification of informal qualifications of advisors/educators of social economy.

With regards to the process of certification it was decided that the process be materialised around January of 2010, in all participating countries (Greece, Italy and Poland).  The process of certification includes three stages: Evaluation of the Curriculum Vitae, On-line test with 100 questions of multiple choices and a Presentation of a case study to the Advisory Board of each institution.

Further, so as to ensure equal access of all participants, it was decided that the process be materialised in each national language of each participating country (Greek, Polish, Italian and English).

It must be mentioned that the certificate “Advisor/Educator of Social Economy” will receive high European recognition and credibility since it will be referenced to a corresponding level of the European Qualifications Framework.

The European Qualifications Framework constitutes the first international framework for professional qualifications; it constitutes a system that will evaluate the qualifications of employees in the EU, not based on who issued the diplomas and educational certificates, but on what they really know, what they really understand and how competent they are to succeed professionally.

The member-states are called forth to correlate their national frameworks with the EQF by 2010 and to institutionalize measure so that, by 2012, all new certificates relating to professional qualifications, diplomas and documents issued, will consist of explicit reference to the corresponding level of the EQF.

The participation in the process of certification is free.

All interested individuals can communicate with the Institute of Entrepreneurship Development so as to declare an interest or to the respective partners of each of the participating countries (+30 2410 626 943, info@entre.gr, www.entre.gr, www.socialconsultant.eu ).

View photos from the meeting

The objective of the process was the allocation of the level of EQF that corresponds to the certificate of the Consultant of Social Economy and the qualifications of the Consultant of Social Economy.  The level of degree of difficulty and the themes of the procedure of certification will results from the professional outline of the Consultant and the level of the EQF.

Five consultants with significant experience in the field of social economy participated in the workshop, while the coordinator of the process was Anastasios Vasiliadis, the President of the Institute of Entrepreneurship Development.

The results of the workshop will be available soon.

Brief presentation of the methodology of allocation

The members of the group of experts were provided with the professional outline of the Consultant/Advisor of Social Economy, which essentially consists of the activities and tasks that the consultant materializes and the knowledge, skills and competences that are required for their execution

The members of the group, based on their experience, evaluated and stated the level of each learning category (knowledge, skills and competences) for each function that the consultant/advisor of social economy executes, the general level that will result from the average of all answers.

It should be noted that the methodology was adapted by already existing methodologies that have been applied in the past with success in Europe.

Get more information concerning the European Qualifications Framework (EQF)

http://ec.europa.eu/education/lifelong-learning-policy/doc44_en.htm

View photos from the workshop

The Objective of the suggested project is the promotion of the transparency of qualifications of individuals employed in training and consulting institutions in the field of social economy and primarily of women executives that face greater problems than their men-coworkers in their entrance and stay in the competitive labor market.

The aim of the meeting was the informing of the partners on all aspects relating to the programme and the definition of the common path that will be followed by the consortium for the best materialization of the project.

The programme is co-funded by the European Union and Lifelong Learning. The programme has duration of two (2) years and will be completed in September of 2010.

View photos from the meeting