Thomas Eckert

VINCE is European funded project that aims at promoting validation of learning in higher education and provide support to HEI staff in order to validate migrants‘ and refugees‘ prior learning.

VINCE so far has developed

• Country reports about the implementation of validation in various European countries,
• Case studies about the impact of validation on inclusion,
• Guidelines and a prototype training course for university staff involved in validation processes to be better prepared when working with newcomer candidates.

Furthermore, policy recommendations are being developed, targeted at EU, national decision makers and institutional learners.

On 4th July 2019 a workshop took place at Ludwig-Maximilians-University, which brought together experts, stakeholders, HEI staff and students in order to discuss the European model of validation of competences in the field of refugees.

In a first step the participants were presented the major pillars of the Lisbon Recognition Convention, which sets out the standards that shall govern validation. While recognition of prior learning refers to the recognition of formal qualifications (prerequisites for entering a higher level of a hierarchical, formal system), validation goes beyond, and also refers to the assessment of competences acquired outside the formal education system. The aim is

• to determine which competences are certifiable at all and, where this is feasible (Information)
• to identify the goals against which competences shall be validated (Identification)
• to create portfolios of supporting documents relevant for validation, such as certificates, test results, work results (Documentation)
• to evaluate the person’s skills and competences (Assessment)

In the second section of the workshop the participants jointly with practitioners from in- and outside HEI discussed the practical implications of the Convention with a view to

• identify changes in current practice necessary to meet the standards of the Lisbon Recognition Convention,
• identify constraints in the recognition of informal learning, such as competences hardly to prove or testify,
• consequences recognition practice in Germany has or can have for universities, students and in the context of the wider society.

Learn more about the project from the VINCE website

VINCE is an ERASMUS+ project that is developing training materials for university staff working in processes of Validation of Prior Learning (VPL) and Validation of Non-formal and Informal Learning (VNIL) with migrant and/or refugee students. The objective is to provide university staff with tools to be better equipped when working with newcomers who want to access Higher Education (HE) and want to be more aware and integrated in European society.

The VINCE open call for case studies and VINCE Validation Prize 2019 have just been launched! The VINCE Validation Prize 2019 is an award given to the most innovative and transferable initiatives in the area of the Validation of Prior Learning (VPL) and/or Validation of Non-formal and Informal Learning (VNIL) in all sectors of education in Europe. The 2019 prize follows the initiative of the OBSERVAL and OBSERVAL-Net projects, which awarded a total of 5 Validation Prizes in 2009, 2010 and 2013.

The 2nd partner meeting took place in Munich, from 9th to 10th October 2017. The event was hosted by the Ludwig-Maximilians-University Munich (Germany). The partner organisations discussed VNIL (validation of non-formal and informal learning outcomes) in Higher Education from different ankles, such as with regard to its meaning for

The number of refugees and new migrants who reach Europe, escaping from wars or critical life conditions and looking for new life opportunities, has increased dramatically in recent years and is likely to continue growing in the coming years. These newcomers face many challenges in settling into Europe and among these are the obstacles to accessing the labour market or continuing their studies.

The XPLOIT project was created to enhance the exploitation of the many European learning projects. Most of them are producing excellent materials and resources which are vanishing after the end of the funding period. The question was (and still is) why and the mission was to find a systematic practice in supporting new infrastructures in the local communities to make use and adopt those many resources.

The focus of the project is the question whether it is possible to adapt successful mechanisms of open innovation to open organizations. In open organizations people from outside the organization are not asked for cooperation because of their individual knowledge but are integrated as a person with all the competences they have. To do so it is not only important to have open organizations. You also need open persons. It is important to know a lot about the competences needed in one organization and the competences that are offered by an individual. And it is important for managers to be open, act as an open person and to act in an open organization. The competences they need for this shall be trained by a serious game application.