The project “Open the Door to Europe”

The project “Open the Door to Europe” matches some of the most important priorities of
the Strategical Partnership Projects because it supports the development, transfer and
implementation of innovative practices in adult non-formal education; facilitates
exchange of knowledge and educational materials as well as enhances the quality and
relevance of the learning offer in adult non-formal education and training; increases
awareness of different levels and types of adult education within the European context;
promotes network building and collaboration between companies active in the field of
adult formal and non-formal education, vocational training, and employment; provides
increasing and upgrading of foreign language (FL) skills.
Taking into consideration the policies of the EU, the project sets up the following
objectives:
1. Promote access of the parties involved into adult education – both teachers/trainers
and students – to innovative teaching tools and learning materials, in order to improve the
quality of adult education and training.
2. Provide teachers and trainers with the necessary methodologies, tools, and methods to
improve job relevant communicative, socially situated, FL competence and cultural
background knowledge of the target audiences: young people, both unemployed in search
for a job and University graduates in search for a better job in multinational companies;
newly-arrived immigrants in the need of social and labour inclusion; and academic and
administrative staff in order to gain a higher position in their jobs.
3. Foster the cooperation between organizations active in the field of adult non-formal
and informal education and civil society from different European countries.
The above-mentioned objectives will be achieved through creation of the OER – e-learning
platform containing the following components:
1. A game-based language course in English, French, German, Italian, Spanish, Bulgarian,
Latvian, Polish, and Turkish languages consisting of job relevant linguistic materials within
social/daily life situations which during the project will be developed, tested, adapted, and
embedded in the blended course of partner organizations.
2. Virtual classroom for teachers (methodology and teaching tools workshops) as a part of
the blended course of developing teaching skills for teachers/trainers within the adult
education system.
3. Social network room ”Melting Pot”: e-chat for “language tandems” where foreign
language students will have a language practice with native speakers.
4. Resource Library for teachers and students consisting of linguistic materials,
intercultural information, and labour market related section.
The partnership is formed by 7 partner organizations from different sectors of the adult
education system which will bring about diversity of approaches and experiences: nonformal
education providers DomSpain (Spain) and LesCultures (Italy); VET providers
Wisamar (Germany) and LatConsul (Latvia), active in the field of formal and non-formal
education; two universities – a private university Collegium Balticum (Poland) and a public
University of Uçak (Turkey); and a human resources development and management
centre Nikanor (Bulgaria), an expert in labour inclusion. This choice of partners will
provide a good balance between multi-level formal and non-formal education providers of
courses/trainings in different European languages united by the idea of improvement of
job-relevant FL skills of learners in order to promote their labour inclusion and/or
upgrading their professional skills.
The OER will greatly contribute to the educational services and quality of the educational
programmes provided by partner organizations which will be able to offer specialized
courses in different foreign languages within their local community. The impact of the
project in general is the promotion of labour market mobility within the European Union
as well as the promotion of different European languages, both more and less used within
the European community. Besides, it will improve intercultural interaction among the
partners with different cultural and social background. It will also promote network
building and collaboration between companies active in the field of adult non-formal
education, vocational training and employment.