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The first joint staff training event integrated in the project has been held in Zaragoza, Spain. The activity has gathered 3 participants from each country who got to know in depth the concept of WBL and the practical ways for providing support for its implementation across the EU. The joint staff event has addressed youth workers and staff members of partner organizations The seminar aimed to foster excellence in youth work and the educational field by empowering participants to integrate WBL and apprenticeship schemes into the activities of their organizations and to better promote new kinds of educational pathways, so as to address several youth target groups proposing such offers. During the training event participants discovered concrete ways in which international WBL mobilities are operated and have acquired relevant competences and know-how related to the provision of support for implementation of such schemes around Europe. Participants have gained new knowledge related to the realization of structured procedures for helping educational entities to involve youth in apprenticeship learning opportunities. Partners' representatives have benefited of a structured training course that helped them to build up the necessary expertise for becoming intermediary actors for bridging educational and job market sectors, thus to become able to facilitate transitions of youth from the educational system to the job market. Moreover, the seminar has provided detailed information regarding the funding opportunities for fostering youth employability, available through the Erasmus+ program. This international mobility activity has to be considered as stimulating for active participation in learning, sense of initiative and involvement of the youth workers and representatives of partner organizations. The training program, delivered by experienced members of the project team was based on non-formal education and was conducted using highly practical and participative approach. The joint staff event has created a common learning space, which brought high quality results, out of the process, and as a result is supposed to enhance the impact of the future initiatives led by the directly addressed target groups. The joint staff training has contributed to raise awareness of the needs in terms of WBL in the participating countries and abroad, and has explored the ways to better address either the educational institutions, either directly the youth groups, especially those with fewer opportunities and NEET, for involving them to participate in such opportunities. Participants' prior experiences in youth work, educational and social fields, in transnational and cross-sectorial partnerships, were used as resources in the development of the learning process. The training seminar has fully explored the concepts of WBL and youth employability through various non formal educational means and activities. It has proposed the real opportunity for creating an international learning space for sharing and exchange relevant knowledge and expertise in terms of involving stakeholders in the creation of empowering environment for WBL. Also, the seminar was used for the creation of content for the planned practical local work phase, aiming at the transfer of the shared know-how to other fellow organizations and VET schools, who will be further interested to start working for support of youth employability through WBL and apprenticeship schemes. Thanks to the learning activity the participants are now able to: - Understand fully the concept and principles of WBL and its implementation - Possess expertise on how to enhance WBL promotion among youth and relevant stakeholders on local level - Have concrete knowledge about the implementation of WBL and apprenticeship schemes on local and international level - Are acquainted with the funding opportunities offered by the Erasmus+ program in view of supporting youth employability through WBL in their communities - Have created contacts with international colleagues operating in the educational and youth fields and work better in network This learning activity was an important step embedded in the project logic in view of fostering the professionalisation and development of youth work. Since the very beginning, the seminar has been designed in a way to enable the participating organizations to play a pivotal role for bridging formal education and labour market, by using non-formal educational means. Also, trained youth workers are now better able to prepare and motivate young people for taking advantage of international work-based learning mobility opportunities and the positive impact, which comes through. This activity was indispensable within the project framework, as essential within the whole process of creation of favouring WBL environment and conditions for development of such procedures, so will be followed up by the attending representatives in the next project stages.

C2 Activity in Sofia, Bulgaria 24-28 February 2020 During the last week of February 2020, the partnership within the Work-based Learning project has held the 2nd Mobility activity planned in. The mobility has taken place in Sofia, Bulgaria with a duration of five days and it has gathered educational experts, representatives of vocational schools and training centers as well as NGO staff. 25 participants from 8 countries have attended the activity. The main aim of the Activity was to allow the exchange of good practices in terms of realization of WBL mobilities at international level and to share expertise in this field. As a result, a document relevant for the practices exchanged has been realised and released as tangible output of the project. In addition, the activity has presented the opportunity for the participants for international networking within the education and training fields in view of the further development of the international cooperative network which the project will launch in the next months. All participants were greatly engaged and expressed major gratitude of such opportunities for cooperation. As for the partner organizations involved in the project, this was a good opportunity to involve new stakeholders and to further promote the implementation of international WBL and apprenticeship schemes within their communities.

Project kick-off meeting, 17-18 April 2019, Sofia, Bulgaria

The kick off meeting has given the official start of the project implementation and aimed to foster the strategic planning of the collaboration between the partners during the whole project period. The meeting has allowed the fine-tuning of the structures and clear plan of the activities, to be implemented in the first half of the project life. Also, partners have discussed several milestones to be based on and achieved by the midterm meeting following in November 2019. Partners have discussed and confirmed the guidelines, prepared in prior, regarding how the organizations shall select their local participants for the mobilities, the needed profiles and their clear tasks. The learning activities program details on which participants were trained were also discussed.

In addition the meeting has again reviewed each partner promoters’ internal tasks and responsibilities and all representatives have clearly agreed on that matter. The project budget was an essential matter also discussed between partners especially the lack of pre-financing payments so all promoters have agreed on the fairest ways to finance the activities in meanwhile waiting for the project funding. All the agreements have been confirmed by official contracts prepared by the hosting learning project partner Horizont ProConsult and partners have duly signed them confirming their involvement in the project and agreement on all matters.