Summary of the project

The SKILL2E project addresses the need for the preparation of higher education graduates for their future work environments with respect to multi-cultural, cross-organisational and cross-sectoral collaboration.

Higher education institutions today need to equip their graduates with social competences and cultural awareness in line with the key competences for Lifelong Learning and the New Skills for New Jobs Initiative.

The SKILL2E approach is independent of sectors and disciplines. It offers a holistic concept on how the acquisition and enhancement of intercultural skills through transnational student placements in enterprises can be integrated in educational offers in the best possible manner. Furthermore, the approach focuses on how this integration can be optimized and validated in order to ensure it fits the purpose.

The SKILL2E concept aims towards four outcomes:

1. SKILL2E pre-placement training model including the implementation of an assessment instrument with respect to intercultural competence.
2. A prototypical implementation of the SKILL2E communication scenario for intercultural reflection in an online environment as a model for using social software for pedagogic purposes and individual learning curve evaluation.
3. The SKILL2E evaluation model intended to validate the competence gain from the perspectives of all interest groups involved based on clearly defined learning outcomes.
4. The SKILL2E enterprise handbook documenting best practice sample implementations of the SKILL2E cultural mentoring concept designed to assist enterprises in fully utilizing the potential of international interns in the short term, but also international employees, cooperation partners and clients from a long-term perspective.

The universities and enterprises involved in the project reflect a cross section of European culture, well suited for this multi-perspective approach and for generating useful and sustainable results beyond the project's lifetime and boundaries.