The 3rd transnational project meeting was hosted by Vermenntaskólinn a Akureyri and Medulla. During the project meeting the project partners were introduced to the education system in Iceland and how VMA collaborates with local companies. We were invited to companies where we were able to interview employers, work mentors and students about how they look at collaboration between VET and working life and how this collaboration could be strengthen and improved.
During the meeting we analyzed interviews that we had done with VET providers, teachers, students, employers and employees/work mentors. Based on these interviews we were able to agree on which were the most important topics to focus on. The interviews also helped us agree on which best practice cases we would focus on and begin piloting.
During the meeting we were fortunate to meet with an employer who had no interest in collaborating with VET. We learned that if a company has all the staff they need and a manager who is willing to educate his employees the skills he wants them to have, the company owners are very likely more reluctant to collaborate with VET than those companies that find it difficult to find the right employees to hire.
We also worked on the VET@work Bridge which is aimed to visualize where a VET provider and a company is when it comes to collaboration
