Today Ambitio College successfully completed the implementation of the Erasmus+ KA2 project (Small Partnerships) “Skill me 4 Job!” together with the partner Stichting Exe-leren from the Netherlands. The project lasted 17 months (from December 1, 2022, to April 30, 2024). The associate partner of the project was the Essential Skills Program from the USA. The project was financed from the Erasmus+ program of the European Union in the total amount of EUR 60,000.00. The target groups of the project were unemployed and employed people in changing careers, people in the process of adult education at the Ambitio College and Stichting Exe-Leren, and adult education teachers.

Overall goal of the project was to implement an innovative online training in the field of soft skills development through the Essential Skills Program (ESP). In this way, an innovative opportunity to learn about soft skills was provided, which contributed to the awareness of the public and target groups about the importance of education in the field of soft skills. In addition to the online training, which was conducted in English on the Canvas platform, digital workbooks were created in English, Croatian and Dutch, which served as additional learning material. Workbooks are made possible through the Moodle platform of Ambitio College. The training included the 10 most needed soft skills on the labour market, which were presented through text, video and audio content and numerous tasks on two e-learning platforms. The soft skills covered in the training were self-awareness, empathy, resilience, effective communication, problem solving, cultural awareness, digital literacy, innovation, collaboration, and adaptability including focus on green skills. At the level of both partners a total of 131 participants were trained. As a result of their hard work and learning, they were provided with certificates of participation and digital badges. The training allowed the target groups to practice the application of the learned knowledge about each skill, and they had the opportunity to develop and strengthen their digital skills in an online environment.

Added value of the project

Participants from Spain, Bulgaria, Greece, and Belgium – individuals from European collaborative organizations, with whom the Ambitio College currently participates in the implementation of other Erasmus+ projects, took part in the training in English and Dutch because the digital workbooks were created in three languages on the Moodle platform. In this way, the Ambitio College not only achieved visibility of the project and project activities in the European framework, but also influenced the improvement of the soft skills of those participants and received feedback on the quality and usefulness of the training because after the completion of the project, this training will be available to European participants.

Analysis of target groups

After the implementation of the online training, each partner created three analyses of the target groups in the soft skills training included in one document, which shows how much the participants strengthened and/or improved their soft skills. The analysis investigated the degree of satisfaction of the target groups with the training, advantages and disadvantages, the degree of progress and improvement of skills after the training compared to the state before the training, etc. The analysis made it possible to investigate all the shortcomings and give recommendations for improving the training for future participants of partner organizations to improve the user learning experience on both platforms after the completion of the project.

International cooperation

The partnership of Ambitio College and Stichting Exe-Leren in adult education was a continuation of the development of international cooperation through the Erasmus+ project ASPIRE and additionally through this project it promoted innovation, the exchange of experiences and knowledge between the two partners by sharing new ideas and mutual expertise in the field of adult education. The project affected mostly the given target groups, however, the information about the new training was extended to numerous other groups and individuals at the national, regional, and European level through dissemination channels.

Next steps (follow-up)

In accordance with the above, the partners will continue to improve the training based on the recommendations from the analysis and include the training in the educational offer to continue empowering all individuals eager for knowledge in the field to successfully navigate complex professional and personal interactions, build relationships with others, encourage cooperation and create positive results in all areas of life. Both partners believe that the training has great potential for professional and personal development and that they expect the participation of new participants from the Netherlands, Croatia and the entire European Union in the future.

You can find out more information about the project HERE.

You can read Croatian analysis of target groups in soft skills training HERE.

You can read Dutch analysis of target groups in soft skills training HERE.

You can read about the activities done in the project HERE.