Brussels, 07/10/2002 (Agence Europe) - The European Commission has approved a total of 279 projects from 30 participating countries (the 15 Member States, the 3 EFTA countries and 12 candidate countries) this year under the Leonardo da Vinci programme to receive an EU grant, for a total of EUR 89.7 million (compared with EUR 82.3m in 2001 and EUR 80.9m in 2000). Viviane Reding said: "It encourages me to go ahead with the so called "process of Bruges", that aims at creating an integrated European space for vocational training by defining joint quality standards and connecting better vocational training institutions in Europe" adding that the Bruges process will be on the agenda of the next Education Council (November).
Some trends in the projects selected in 2002: 1) Quality in training and training tools and training provisions for specific professions; 2) Transparency, validation and recognition of training within certain professions to promote transnational standards and recognition; 3) Integration into the labour market, identifying and overcoming obstacles, thereby creating new employment opportunities: and 4) the important role of eLearning and information and communication technologies in general.
A new Call for Proposals has been launch, containing three new priorities for Leonardo da Vinci for 2003 and 2004: Valuing learning, New forms of learning and teaching and basic skills in vocational education and training, and Guidance and counselling. With these new priorities, the Commission aims to focus on priority policy areas in vocational education and training. The deadline for submitting pre-proposals is 4 November 2002. Info: http: //europa.eu.int/comm/education/leonardo/leonardo2_en.html