EUROPEA Seminar and Bi-annual Meeting – Baden, Austria
28th to 30th April 2014
This spring the EUROPEA family gathered in the picturesque valley of Helenental near Baden, in Lower Austria. More than hundred people involved in green VET from 24 countries of Europe came together to enjoy the busy professional programme organized excellently by EUROPEA Austria.
PEER REVIEW IN GREEN VET
The topic of the seminar – Peer Review – was prepared and introduced by our French colleagues. Participants were divided into ten groups and were sent to different VET schools in the wonderful region of Lower Austria. After the visit the task was to define the biggest SURPRISES and greatest LESSONS. We were also asked to formulate QUESTIONS in order to help the improvement of VET in the visited institutions. Finally, presentations were given and all the collected information, thoughts and suggestions were shared and forwarded to schools.
GENERAL ASSEMBLY
While everybody was busy putting together their presentations, National Coordinators held their meeting to discuss current issues. Then the General Assembly saw lots of interested colleagues joining in and waiting curiously for the election of the Executive Committee. Congrats to the members of the old-new governing body of EUROPEA! And finally, during the GA our association opened its doors and accepted two new countries. A warm welcome to Serbia and Switzerland!
MARKET OF GOOD PRACTICES
EUROPEA meetings always give great opportunities to introduce and promote new methods, innovative ideas, interesting workshops or project results. This time the ground floor facilities and the surroundings of Seminar- & Eventhotel Krainerhütte were turned into a truly great European MARKET OF GOOD PRACTICES giving EUROPEAns a wide platform to share their good ideas, to see and to learn new things from each other.
THE FUTURE
The last day of the meeting directed us towards the future of European Green VET and one of the inevitable topics had to be ECVET (European Credit system for Vocational Education and Training). Besides, in the future we expect EUROPEA Iceland joining our association welcoming already a representative at the Baden meeting. Future will also take EUROPEA to Italy (autumn 2014), Latvia (spring 2015) and Luxembourg (autumn 2015) in the upcoming year.
A ROYAL GOODBYE
Once a royal hunting lodge, Schloß Eckartsau – nested in the unspoiled natural environment of the Donau-Auen National Park – proved to be a perfect venue for the closing dinner. The elegant evening finished with the traditional handover of the EUROPEA flag to the next hosting country: Italy. See you there, dear Friends, and remember: ALONE ONE GOES FASTER BUT TOGETHER WE GO FURTHER!!
Thank you EUROPEA Austria for a truly wonderful meeting!!
By Judit Covic, HU
USEFUL LINKS
Detailed information and all documents on TeamEngine:
Photos out at EUROPEA Facebook page:
https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.600208470074584.1073741842.419162528179180&type=1
And also at:
https://picasaweb.google.com/110838923085449517442/EUROPEABaden?authkey=Gv1sRgCNz6kfXf-NbGdA
Austrian press releases:
