In October 2008 and upon the initiative of AVRE (Association of Vocational Rehabilitation Enterprises), the EQUASS in Practice project brought together 6 organisations from Lithuania, Slovenia, Portugal, Belgium, Ireland and Norway to make the EQUASS Assurance certification system more easily available to all Vocational, Education and Training (VET) providers within the vocational rehabilitation sector.
EQUASS in Practice is a two-year project, funded by the Leonardo da Vinci programme under the Lifelong Learning Programme of the European Commission, represented by the national agent SIU (Norwegian Centre for International Cooperation in Higher Education). The project leader is the Association of Vocational Rehabilitation Enterprises (AVRE).
Objectives and outputs
The main objective of EQUASS in Practice is to develop and share best practice for how VET service providers may work to implement the EQUASS Assurance certification programme, with the aim of improving quality of their services and achieving sustainable working practice and routines. Additional objectives include the creation of implementation strategies in the partners' respective countries, the development of trainings in the EQUASS quality criteria, the identification of potential Local Licence Holders and the development of a pool of approved EQUASS auditors.
To achieve those aims, EQUASS in Practice is developing methods, guidelines and strategies which will be used to produce a free web-based manual. Intended as a practical tool, the manual will coach the VET-providers through their Quality Assurance work and help them to become certified. In addition, a short information brochure will be printed and distributed to disseminate the results of the project.
EQUASS In Practice Web Manual
The EQUASS in Practice Manual is one of the results produced by the project and is intended to provide assistance about clarification and understanding of all requirements in the EQUASS Assurance standard to all potential applicants. To strenghten its impact and accessibility, the EQUASS Manual is available in four languages: English, Norwegian, Lithuanian and Slovenian.
Information and documentation
Partners:
The Association of Vocational Rehabilitation Enterprises (AVRE), Norway
Valakupiai Rehabilitation Centre, Lithuania
European Platform for Rehabilitation (EPR), Belgium
Centro de ReabilitaĆ§Ć£o Profissional de Gaia (CRPG), Portugal
Institute for Rehabilitation, Republic of Slovenia
EQUASS in Practice meetings
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Start-up Seminar 12-13 January 2009, Oslo (Norway) |
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Second Seminar 22-23 June 2009, Porto (Portugal) |
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Third Seminar 2-3 November 2009, Ljubljana (Slovenia) |
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Fourth Seminar 20 - 21 April 2010, Vilnius (Lithuania) |
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Fifth Seminar 19-20 July 2010, Brussels (Belgium) |
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Sixth Seminar 2 - 3 September 2010, Dublin (Ireland) |