The Network for the Advancement of Vocational Education in Europe (NAVE2) on Inclusion
The European Union has made it a priority to make the Erasmus Plus programme more inclusive.
The Network for the Advancement of Vocational Education in Europe (NAVE2) was set up in 2018 by four large European providers/associations in the field of VET. This formal network was the obvious next step in what became an ever closer and more successful cooperation between SAMPO of Finland, Gobierno de Navarra of Spain, Consorzio degli Istituti Professionali in Italy and ROC Midden Nederland of The Netherlands. The main objective is to increase the international competences of its students and staff through more mobility of a higher quality, more exchange of innovation and practice and more cooperation in the field of joint curricula.
From the beginning the NAVE2 partners also focused on mobility for all students, including those that are regarded as vulnerable or have fewer opportunities. This activity led to a KA2 project that is now developing instruments, procedures and especially experience in this field. The first challenge was to get a grip on the kind of students we were actually talking about. Even though there are several definitions of vulnerability, the fact is that we all have different kinds of vulnerable students in our courses: students with physical disabilities or mental disabilities, students from disadvantaged groups, refugees, and so on. Instead of trying to find the common denominator, the partnership decided that each partner would decide which group or groups to involve. The key factor here was that the other partners would accept this choice. Interestingly the focus quite logically then changed to: what do we need to know about the students we are going to host? We found that this discussion was much more useful, practical, and satisfying.
Unfortunately, then COVID-19 came along and put a halt to all our plans for real mobilities in the near future. The partnership has now decided to postpone the mobilities to November 2021 – when hopefully the pandemic will be under control – and to develop a virtual exchange for this group of students in April 21. So now the partnership is looking forward to two challenges: a virtual and a physical one. We will keep you informed on how we get on with these, and hopefully succeed with them.
Would you like more information before that? Please contact: Norbert Ruepert at the following e-mail address: n.ruepert@rocmn.nl.
