Empowering VET Educators in the Digital Age: The Launch of ELE_VET

Introduction

In February 2025, the Italian town of Foligno welcomed partners from Italy, Portugal, Armenia, and Azerbaijan for the official launch of ELE_VET – an ambitious three-year Erasmus+ Capacity Building project focused on improving Vocational Education and Training (VET). Coordinated by EGInA Srl, ELE_VET aims to empower VET teachers and trainers by strengthening their capabilities in digital education, entrepreneurship, and innovative teaching methods.

Funded under the ERASMUS-EDU-2024-CB-VET action (Project number: 101183303), the project brings together six partner organizations, each with a specific role in developing educational content, training delivery, research, and dissemination activities.

The Main Subject

ELE_VET responds to a pressing need for 21st-century skills in VET systems, especially in Eastern Partnership countries like Armenia and Azerbaijan. The project’s goal is to upskill VET educators, enabling them to integrate entrepreneurship and digital tools into their classrooms and engage students in hands-on, project-based learning.

What the Project Offers

• A blended training course for at least 30 teachers (10 per NE partner), combining:
  
  • 50 hours of online learning from February to June 2026
    
  • 5-day face-to-face national training workshops in Armenia and Azerbaijan
    
  • Interactive webinars and matchmaking with EU institutions
    
  • A one-week job-shadowing experience in an EU country (Italy or Portugal)
    
• A Training of Trainers (ToT) in Italy in January 2026 for 6 selected “Master Teachers” who will co-deliver the national training and mentor peers.
  
• Creation and localization of training materials in national languages, based on the EntreComp and DigCompEDU frameworks.
  
• National and International Hackathons:
  
  • Students and teachers apply their knowledge in real-world settings
    
  • Local businesses and community stakeholders are involved
    
  • National winners compete in a final Social Hackathon Umbria in Italy (July 2027)
    
• Focus group discussions, site visits, and school-business collaboration to ensure that learning meets local employment needs and market trends.
  

Summary

ELE_VET is designed as a step-by-step transformation process:

1. Research and Curriculum Design (2025): Collection of best practices and creation of a modular curriculum focused on digital, entrepreneurial, and innovative pedagogies.
   
2. Teacher Training (2026): A full-year cycle of online and face-to-face capacity-building activities for educators, supported by job-shadowing in EU institutions.
   
3. Student Engagement (2027): VET teachers integrate the training into their teaching, guiding students in project-based activities and Hackathons.
   
4. Sustainability and Expansion: Formation of international networks of VET institutions and the creation of open-access learning resources.
   

All materials produced will be available as Open Educational Resources (OER) under a Creative Commons license, ensuring long-term value and broad reuse across Europe and beyond.

Results

While still in its initial phase, ELE_VET has already made strong progress:

• A structured curriculum aligned with European digital and entrepreneurship competencies
  
• Strong collaboration between EU and NE partners in education and civil society
  
• Clear timelines and defined roles within five Work Packages (WPs) covering content development, training, outreach, and quality assurance
  
• Planned engagement of 150 students, 30 teachers, and dozens of local enterprises
  

The ELE_VET model offers a replicable and scalable approach to upgrading vocational education in line with Sustainable Development Goals, especially in terms of digital inclusion, youth empowerment, and quality education.

By project’s end in 2027, ELE_VET aims to not only modernize VET instruction in Armenia and Azerbaijan but also create a cross-border educational ecosystem that inspires innovation and collaboration.