
TO REGOS project – regional cooperation at its finest
August 2021 marked the end of the Towards regionally based occupational standards (TO REGOS) project after two and a half years of successful regional cooperation. The project was funded by the Austrian Development Agency with the funds of Austrian Development Cooperation and cofounded by the ERI SEE. It gathered VET and chambers of commerce from Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Kosovo*, Montenegro, Republic of North Macedonia, and Serbia in a joint endeavour to contribute to the enhancement of the employability and labour mobility of young people through the development of (1) regional framework for the development of regionally based occupational standards (2) five regionally based occupational standards (3) qualification standards based on five occupational standards and (4) explore the possibility of developing regionally based qualification standards.
After two years of the implementation period, the project partners can proudly announce that they accomplished all project objectives and more.
Five regionally based occupational standards (hotel and restaurant technician, dry construction worker, painter, floor layer and tile setter) were developed based on agreed methodology, following which 30 national occupational standards with common regional basis and 20 national qualification standards were developed. The cooperation between project partners was strengthened through the implementation of 120 national meetings for developing occupational standards, 67 national meetings for developing qualification standards and 32 regional meetings. The COVID 19 pandemic that correlated with much of the project implementation makes these numbers even more impressive. While it was in many ways an obstacle in implementing project activities, the pandemic situation had one significant spin-off effect: it ensured that methods developed and tested within the project encompass face-to-face, blended, and digital working modes of developing regionally based occupation standards which largely increased their exploitation potential.
Lastly, the project partners explored the option of continuing the cooperation by moving a step further: developing regionally based qualification standards. To that end both the Feasibility Study on Developing Regionally Based Standards of Qualifications and the Methodology for the Developing Regionally Based Standards of Qualifications were developed as the basis for future cooperation. More about the TO REGOS publications can be found here.
Recognising the positive momentum built up through the TO REGOS project, the ADA decided to fund its continuation by supporting the new project: Enhancing quality of education and training in SEE (EQET SEE). More about the EQET SEE project is available here.
More about the project, activities and outputs can be found in the publication Towards regionally based occupational standards (TO REGOS) project in a nutshell.
*This designation is without prejudice to positions on status and is in line with UNCSCR 1244 and the ICJ Opinion on the Kosovo declaration of independence.