Success in Brussels: Joint Norwegian-Hungarian Training Project is an Example to Follow 3 May 2011
Among the history of the EEA/Norwegian Financial Mechanism Hungary was the first country to have the privilege to present a Hungarian project as a best practice project to the experts of the Financial Mechanism Office in May 2011.
In the 27 EU member states Hungary has the lowest number of citizens taking part in adult education. Numbers are especially low among the permanently unemployed, the elderly and those with basic primary education. To improve the situation the Norwegian Agency for Lifelong Learning "VOX" and the Hungarian Association for Life Long Learning joined forces to create the project "Initiation of Learning Partnerships".
The investment created nine training centres to increase the employment ratio in Hungary. The centres provide learning opportunities for adults who only have basic education or who are unskilled, in the country's least developed regions. The learning centres are deployed in areas with exceptionally high unemployment rate.
As a result of the funds of HUF 180 million the centres can have a positive effect on social integration and community development, and they may contribute to skills and employability development on local level.
As association advisor Zoltán Várkonyi said in Brussels that entry requirements were set to be easy to fulfil and a flexible training environment was created that is accessible for anyone. He highlighted that each centre has programs specifically focusing on those skills that are important on local level. He emphasized that in a half year period 780 adults taking part in the program received a competence certificate and, what is more important, a new skill, boosting their self-confidence. The training focuses on basic competences such as digital communication, foreign languages, or entrepreneurial skills.
Close cooperation between project partners also contributed to the success of the investment. Cooperation helped the partners considerably in overcoming initial challenges. "Project start required increased efforts" Várkonyi said, but he emphasized that perseverance will bear fruit as close cooperation enables parties to join forces and multiplies positive results.
Graciela Sbertoli from VOX explained that mutual trust of the partners is priceless from the perspective of future cooperation. Sbertoli said that the European Basic Skills Network (EBSN, an international organization for adult basic skills development), which contributed vastly to EU policy development in this field, recognises the project as a best practice. She added that the cooperation so far provides a solid basis for joint projects and new support opportunities in the future.
Support schemes EEA/Norwegian Financial Mechanism were initiated by Norway, Iceland and Liechtenstein in 2004 to help establishing social and economic cohesion in the enlarged European Economic Area. Respective cooperation agreements were signed in 2005. These define the legal and financial framework for the Financial Mechanism, grant forms and priority and target areas, the actual institutions assigned to tasks, the questions of reporting and monitoring, and the regulating principles.