Call for application for the selection of members of ET 2020 Working Groups

Link to call: http://ec.europa.eu/education/policy/strategicframework/expert-groups_en.htm

Call for applications ET 2020 Working Groups

Table of Contents

Table of Contents .............................................................................................. 2 1. Background ................................................................................................... 3 2. Features of the Groups ................................................................................... 3 2.1 Composition and appointment ..................................................................... 4 2.2 Transparency ............................................................................................ 4 2.3 Working methods ...................................................................................... 4 3. Requirements ................................................................................................ 5 3.1 Eligibility criteria ....................................................................................... 5 3.2 Selection criteria ....................................................................................... 5 3.3 Supporting evidence .................................................................................. 7 4. Application procedure ..................................................................................... 7 4.1 Application requirements ............................................................................ 7 4.2. Application deadline and delivery address .................................................... 7 5. Selection procedure ....................................................................................... 8 ANNEX 1: STAKEHOLDER DECLARATION FORM ..................................................... 9

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1. Background The ET 2020 strategic framework for European cooperation in education and training 1 is the main instrument to develop exchanges of information and experience on issues common to the education and training systems of the Member States (TFEU, art. 165 and 166). As part of the ET 2020 strategic framework, cooperation inter alia takes the form of Working Groups. Working Groups – first established by the Commission under the Education and Training 2010 work programme in order to implement the Open Method of Coordination in education and training – offer a forum for the exchange of best practices in these fields. They bring together – on a voluntary basis – experts from the Member States2. ET 2020 Working Groups are informal Commission expert groups at the service of the ET 2020 framework. The primary focus of the Working Group is to benefit the Member States in their work of furthering policy development through mutual learning and the identification of good practices. They are a forum for discussions, providing high-level input from a wide range of sources and stakeholders, and as such are also opened to European social partners and European-level stakeholder associations.

2. Features of the Groups As of 2016, six ET 2020 Working Groups will work on the ET 2020 concrete issues listed in the Annex of the 2015 Joint Report 3. These Groups will be: 1. Working Group Schools 2. Working Group on the Modernization of Higher education 3. Working Group on Vocational education and training 4. Working group on Adult learning 5. Working Group on Digital skills and competences 6. Working group on Promoting citizenship and the common values of freedom, tolerance and non-discrimination through education (follow-up to the Paris Declaration) Working Group mandates are published on the Europa website4. This call for applications concerns all six Groups. 1

See 2009 Council Conclusions: http://eur-lex.europa.eu/legalcontent/EN/TXT/PDF/?uri=CELEX:52009XG0528%2801%29&from=EN 2

Council conclusions on efficient and innovative education and training to invest in skills (2014/C 62/05) http://eur-lex.europa.eu/legalcontent/EN/TXT/?uri=CELEX:52014XG0304%2801%29 3

2015 Joint Report of the Council and the Commission on the implementation of the Strategic framework for European cooperation in education and training (ET 2020) – 'New priorities for European cooperation in education and training' (available at http://ec.europa.eu/education/policy/strategic-framework/index_en.htm) 4

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2.1 Composition and appointment Working Groups will be composed of nominated representatives from (a) the Member States (governmental experts nominated via the Permanent Representations to the EU); (b) the Candidate Countries (governmental experts nominated via the Mission to the EU); (c) the EFTA countries (governmental experts nominated via the Mission to the EU); (d) EU agencies; (e) relevant international organisations. In addition, the Working Groups will be open to representatives from (a) the formally recognised European cross-sectoral and education specific social partner organisations in the fields of education and training and (b) a limited number of European civil society and stakeholder associations with specific expertise, which will respond to this call.

2.2 Transparency Personal data within the scope of the group is treated in accordance with Regulation (EC) N° 45/2001 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 18 December 2000 on the protection of individuals with regard to the processing of personal data by the Community institutions and bodies and on the free movement of such data. All relevant documents (such as agendas, minutes and participants’ submissions) will be made available in the Register of Commission Expert Groups ('the Register'). Exceptions to systematic publication are justified where disclosure of a document would undermine the protection of a public or private interest as defined in Article 4 of Regulation (EC) N° 1049/2001. The names of organisations appointed as members shall be published in the Register. The names of identified representatives of the member organisations and public authorities may also be published in the Register.

2.3 Working methods The tasks to be performed by Working Groups are to provide the Commission and Member States with advice and expertise on topics listed in the introduction of section 2. Working Groups are fora for exchange on key aspects of education and training policy. In this perspective, they will identify and analyse pertinent examples of policies within the EU, as well as relevant evidence from research, in order to identify common challenges and factors for policy success. Working Groups perform four types of activity which aim at producing and disseminating quality outputs foreseen in the Group mandates: 1. Working Group meetings in Brussels (2-3 meetings per year per Working Group) with all Working Group members; 2. Peer learning activities (PLAs) hosted in a volunteering Member State with a good practice to demonstrate (3-4 per year and per Working Group). PLAs focus on one specific policy issue and gather Member States for which the issue at stake is a national challenge or where they want to reach excellence (a limited number of Working Group members are expected to participate); 3. Online exchanges using webinars and the Yammer platform; 4. Dissemination activities of the outputs: Working Groups should contribute to the dissemination and valorisation of good practices and lessons learned to December 2015

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improve ET 2020 knowledge transfer and exchange, with the aim of providing insights into what works in education. Experts proposed by the applicant organisations should contribute actively to discussions in the group, to access and share information, examine and provide comments on policies, ideas and research under discussion, reflect the ideas of their organisation as well as provide feedback to the organisation. Working Group members shall comply with the obligations of professional secrecy laid down by the Treaties and their implementing rules. Should they fail to comply with those obligations, the Commission may take all appropriate measures. The kick-off meeting for all six Working Groups is tentatively scheduled for 22 February 2016. Within the limits of the applicable rules5, travel and subsistence expenses incurred by the participants and directly linked to their participation in a Working Group meeting will be reimbursed by the Commission. Participants shall not receive remuneration for their duties. The working language will be English. No interpretation will be available.

3. Requirements 3.1 Eligibility criteria Across Working Groups, the Commission will take the following criteria into account when assessing applications. Applicant associations should be: 

A formally recognised European cross-sectoral or education or training specific social partner organisations;

or 

A European civil society/ stakeholder association with main activities in education and training which: o

Has been in existence with a formal legal status for at least a five-year period;

o

Has formal members from at least 15 Member States;

o

Aims at advancing (an aspect of) education and/ or training at European level (as stated in its constituting legal document).

3.2 Selection criteria The organisation will be selected according to the following criteria:

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Commission decision of 5 December 2007, Rules on the reimbursement of expenses incurred by people from outside the Commission invited to attend meetings in an expert capacity. Doc. C(2007)5858, http://ec.europa.eu/employment_social/egf/docs/reglementation_experts_2008_en.p df December 2015

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

their proven and relevant competence and experience, including at international, European, national, regional and local levels, in the area covered by the Working Group mandate6;



demonstrated capacity and added-value to contribute to the expected outputs of the Working Group;



demonstrated capacity and added-value to contribute to the dissemination of the Working Group outputs.

In addition to these general criteria, Working Groups have specific selection criteria. 

For the Working Group Schools, priority will be given to applicants who are knowledgeable in the area of the governance of school education systems, which will include the specific topics of i) management of networks, ii) quality assurance, and iii) the teaching profession.



For the Working Group on the Modernisation of Higher Education, European organisations covering a broad spectrum of topics of the EU’s Modernisation Agenda for Higher Education7 will have priority.



For the Working Group on VET, expertise in teacher education/ training trainers, work-based learning/in-company training, as well as in implementing structural reforms in education (VET) and employment policies will have priority.



For the Working Group on Adult Learning, expertise in this area and in particular on programmes and strategies for promoting workplace learning by adults, including provision for raising basic competences such as literacy, numeracy and digital skills will have priority.



For the Working Group on Digital skills and competence, expertise in this area and in particular on teacher education, digital literacy, learning analytics, as well as game and gamifications will have priority.



For the Working Group on Promoting citizenship and the common values of freedom, tolerance and non-discrimination through education, priority will be given to organisations that pursue general interest objectives, and have expertise in: social and civic competences; and/or democratic and other common values and non-discrimination through education.

Based on past experience, it is important that Working Groups open to different expertise, while at the same time keeping a balanced perspective and a manageable size for efficient working methods and delivery of expected outputs. As an indication, 2-6 representatives per Working Group for European social partner organisations and European civil society/stakeholder associations respectively will be selected through this call.

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http://ec.europa.eu/education/policy/strategic-framework/expert-groups_en.htm

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http://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/ALL/?uri=CELEX%3A52011DC0567 December 2015

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Call for applications ET 2020 Working Groups

3.3 Supporting evidence Applications for membership shall be sent to the Commission, demonstrating that the abovementioned selection criteria are met. Each application shall include the following supporting documents duly completed and signed (scanned copies of the originals in PDF format): - The formal statutes of the European association and proof of their formal recognition. - A listing of the formal members of the European association (demonstrating membership from at least 15 member States). - The detailed CVs of the proposed representative, including activities conducted in the organisation and language competency as defined in the CEFR. - The attached Annex 1 duly completed and signed. Supporting documents may be requested at a later stage.

4. Application procedure 4.1 Application requirements An application will be deemed admissible only if it matches the requirements under sections 2.1 and 3 above, and is sent at the latest by the deadline mentioned in section 4.2 below. Each application must be completed in one of the official languages of the European Union. However, applications in English are encourage as they facilitate the evaluation procedure. If another language is used, it would be desirable to include a summary of the CV in English. Each organisation may nominate one representative to the group. All nominations must be made and signed by the president of the organisation.

4.2. Application deadline and delivery address Interested applicants are required to submit their application no later than 29 January 2016, 18h00, (Brussels time) to the following email address: [email protected] with one of the following titles in the subject of the email: 

"Call for applications for the Working Group Schools"



"Call for applications for the Working Group on the Modernization of Higher Education"



"Call for applications for the Working Group on Vocational education and training"



"Call for applications for the Working Group on Adult Learning"



"Call for applications for the Working Group on Digital Skills and Competence"



"Call for applications for the Working Group on Promoting citizenship and the common values of freedom, tolerance and non-discrimination through education"

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Associations who wish to nominate representatives to more than one Working Group can do so by completing separate applications.

5. Selection procedure The selection procedure will consist of an assessment by the Commission services of the applications against the above-mentioned criteria. The Commission services will seek to ensure an adequately balanced representation of the fields of expertise. Information on the results of the call for applications will be published on the Internet site of DG EAC (http://ec.europa.eu/education/policy/strategic-framework/expertgroups_en.htm) at the latest by 17 February 2016. A link from the Register to this site is provided for. Selected applicants will be contacted individually. For any further information [email protected].

please

contact

EAC-ET-2020-WORKING-

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Annex 1: Stakeholder Declaration Form (This form must be filled in, signed and returned in PDF with the application; it is also available in .doc and .odt format) As the president of (please select only one option): a) A European social partner …………………………………………………………… (please write the name of social partner) b) a European civil society/ stakeholder association ………………………………………………………………… (please write the name of association) I would like my association to be a member of the following Working Group (please select one option): Working Group Schools oup on the Modernization of Higher education

tolerance and Declaration)

non-discrimination

through

education

(follow-up

to

the

Paris

My association has proven and relevant competence and experience, including at international, European, national, regional and local levels, in the area covered by the Working Group mandate (please explain in less than 300 words):

My association can demonstrate a capacity and added value to contribute to the expected outputs of the Working Group (please explain in less than 300 words):

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My association can demonstrate a capacity and added value to contribute to the dissemination of the Working Group outputs (please explain in less than 200 words):

 UNDERTAKING By signing this application we undertake to participate in the work of the group on a regular basis in compliance with the call for expressions of interest and the rules and terms of reference mentioned therein. Title: …………………………

Title: …………………………

Surname: ………………….

Surname: ………………….

First name: ……………….

First name: ……………….

Date: ………………………..

Date: ………………………..

Signature ………………….

Signature ………………….

(President of the association)

(Nominated association)

representative

of

December 2015

the

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