The Educational Research Institute is leading the project “Microcredentials – Piloting A New Solution To Support Lifelong Learning”, which is funded by the European Fund for Social Development (FERS).

Project Objectives

The main aim of the project is to test whether microcredentials are useful for developing different types of skills in line with the idea of lifelong learning. Designing the process of issuing and collecting microcredentials is also a key element of the project. The solutions developed are a response to the Recommendation of the Council of the European Union of 22 June 2022 on a European approach to microcredentials, which recommends to member states, among other things, that microcredentials:

• enable the acquisition and updating of knowledge, skills and social competences that ensure success in a changing labour market;
• support the preparation of microcredential providers to increase the quality, transparency, accessibility and flexibility of educational offerings to ensure that individual learning and career paths can be taken.

The project implements these recommendations by developing standards for creating and issuing microcredentials in such a way that they meet labour market credibility requirements. As the project introduces a digital form of issuing microcredentials, they will not only be more accessible, but also better adapted to the requirements of the modern world. The experience gained during the implementation of the project will allow the system of issuing microcertificates to be adapted to the needs of all users and to be used to support the practice of lifelong learning. Activities in this regard will be conducted in cooperation with representatives of interested entities, including training companies, recruitment agencies, industry organisations, enterprises, and higher education institutions.

The developed standards and solutions may find application in many areas, among others: 

• in motivating adults to improve their existing skills and acquire new ones,
• in increasing the efficiency of recruitment and planning the career paths of employees,
• in developing more flexible forms of education,
• in popularizing the assessment and confirmation of competences acquired outside formal education (e.g., in the course of self-learning),
• in serving as an important complement to school and university diplomas, due to the fact that they contain information about specific skills acquired by the learner,
• in popularizing digital solutions in education.
  
  

Tasks

The project is divided into 4 main parts, to which the basic tasks of the project correspond:

1. development of standards and solutions for designing, describing, issuing and ensuring the credibility of microcredentials,
2. pilot implementation of digital microcredentials of skills and achievements, 
3. developing the usability and ensuring the availability of the Badge+ application as a tool to support the use of microcredentials,
4. disseminating microcredentials as a flexible tool for up-skilling and re-skilling in the context of lifelong learning (especially for adults), and taking steps to integrate this solution into practice or policy.
   
   

Project Activities

The project is divided into four main parts corresponding to its basic tasks:

1. development of standards and solutions for designing, describing, issuing and ensuring the credibility of microcredentials,
2. pilot implementation of digital microcredentials of skills and achievements,
3. development of its usability as well as ensuring the availability of the Odznaka+ application as a tool to support the use of microcredentials,
4. promotion of microcredentials as a flexible tool for up-skilling and re-skilling in the context of lifelong learning (especially for adults), and taking steps to integrate this solution into practice or policy.
   
   

Target groups

The project will primarily target groups working to develop ICT skills, including but not limited to:

• representatives of universities (rectors, lecturers),
• representatives of associations, educational institutions and NGOs,
• employers looking for employees with specific skills,
• training companies,
• recruitment agencies,
• industry organizations and sector skills councils,
• employees,
• young people entering the job market, e.g., graduate students, trainees.

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Total project funding is PLN 22,910,771.76, including a European Funds contribution of PLN 21,765,233.17. Project number: FERS.05.01-IZ.00-0001/23
Date of signing the agreement: 29.09.2023
State budget funding: PLN 1,145,538.59