What is FOCUS? 

Let us introduce to you FOCUS – Forward-Looking Social Europe Skills, project co-funded by the Erasmus+ Programme of the European Union in the framework of EACEA/36/2018-European Forward Looking Cooperation Projects in the fields of Education and Training.

Why
The social sector is one of the most important sectors at European level. It is highly affected by changes such as demographic trends, economic crisis, migration of populations and workers.
FOCUS aims to involve different stakeholders in the social field in the identification of skills and competences necessary to the professionals working in this field to deal with future challenges, having in mind the 2030 horizon. The project will increase the number of the public and private organisations from the social field that are able to develop workplace learning paths for the social service workforce.

Who
The project is implemented by five partners:

– CONCORDIA Humanitarian Organization (Romania) – leader of the project;
– National College of Social Workers (CNASR, Romania);
– SOSU Østjylland (Denmark);

Where
Project activities will be developed in 4 countries: Austria, Denmark, Italy and Romania.

When
The project started on 1st of January 2020 and will end on 31 December 2021.

What
During  project life, we will:

  • organize national consultations with employees, employers and decision-makers in Austria, Denmark, Italy and Romania and define together the skills required for the professionals in the social field by 2030. These participatory consultation leverage on foresight methodology and tools (see below article by Diana Stafie, Future Station);
  • meet in a two-day Future Workshop in Bucharest, Romania. About 60 participants from 4 countries will co-create using foresight methodology the Future Skills Inventory – European Social Professionals in 2030, a tool to be used for the continuous learning of the employees from the social field;
  • develop together with the project partners an innovative policy for workplace training using the Delphi method;
  • design and pilot in each project country a training module for 20 HR responsibles from public and private social organizations;
  • organize a webinar on the importance of the digitalization for the social workers (in Romania);
  • communicate the project results in the framework of regional and national conferences dedicated to the professionals in social field and other stakeholders.
For additional info please contact bianca.buzetto@concordia.org.ro
More about CONCORDIA Humanitarian Organization here
More about CONCORDIA Academia here.
This project has been funded with support from the European Commission. This publication reflects the views only of the author, and the Commission cannot be held responsible for any use which may be made of the information contained therein.