The project "New members for ECVET Earth Building" aims to promote Lifelong Learning and mobility in order to expand the reach and improve the quality of Vocational Education and Training for sustainable building techniques within Europe, with a particular focus on earth building. A consortium of 9 organisations from 7 European countries collaborated in the fulfillment of the aims and objectives of the project, primarily through the creation of a new Memorandum of Understanding between the existing partners of an older, now expired, earth building partnership Learn.Earth (former LearnWithClay) and new partners - especially and initially those active in another larger Leonardo Programme of Earth Building, the 'Provide Instructions and Resources for Assessment and Training in Earth Building' project (PIRATE http://pirate.greenbuildingtraining.eu/public/ ). The project has successfully achieved the development and launch of the new MoU. This second edition of the original MoU signed in 2009, has now been signed by 13 earth building related associations. Partners who have signed the MoU are entitled to issue Learn.Earth certificates for the achievement of ECVET Earth building learning outcomes. The ECVET Earth building Matrix now contains 12 Units of Learning Outcomes, each available at different levels ranging from Level 1 to 6, with more Units to be added as the demand grows.
During the two year project, more than 20 partner meetings helped to build up and strengthen mutual trust between the "old" partners of the MoU and the "newcomers". Both trainers and learners participated in the meetings and exchanged and shared experience in conducting exams and in the assessment of the ECVET learning outcomes. Trainers played both roles, as both examiners and examinees, in order to improve their competence in the assessment of ECVET Learning outcomes. Some partners, existing and new, undertook the training and assessment of the new ECVET Unit of Learning Outcomes 'Building with Rammed Earth', which was designed by the European Project ‘PIRATE’. Trainees in both initial training and continuous training have been awarded Learn.Earth Certificates for Achievement, which enables the possible integration of ECVET Earth Building learning outcomes into individual learning pathways.
In order to encourage VET providers to join the MoU partnership, partners disseminated the MoU at various national activities such as the Healthy Houses Conferences in the Czech Republic 2014 and Slovakia 2015, the Conference in Schwerin 2015, the conference and Earth Building Association Gathering in Cyprus 2015, and the Earth Building Festival and Association’s Annual General Meeting of the UK and Ireland 2015. The partnership and MoU were further promoted at local level through partner events. Generally, the process undertaken through this partnership project for expanding and strengthening the MoU partnership has been extremely positive and beneficial for both the existing partners and for the future and quality of shared certificated training opportunities and increased collaboration, networking and mutual support within the sector across Europe.