SAAM celebrates its 3rd International Meeting

Last December 9th, we had the pleasure to meet again virtually with all the partners of SAAM. In the current situation, this 3rd International Meeting was fundamental because the project and the coordination team are modifying some points and, consequently, all the partnership of SAAM needed to be updated.

The ongoing situation with the COVID-19 pandemic is new and complicated for everyone. When Quique Miana -Mundus CEO- talked about our journey until this day, he remembered that this is a pilot program and therefore we must be able to adapt. As there are very adverse conditions, we want to support our partners by giving them extra support to make everything that we can to achieve the best implementation. 

Alfredo Garmendia -the applicant- and Beatrice Bellet -the coordinator- opened the session, commemorating that December 3rd was SAAM first anniversary. Despite the difficulties facing the COVID-19 pandemic, “Stopping has never been an option. The coordination team has been working hard to find solutions and new plans, and all of you, SAAM partners, have always been there to attend with a strong compromise”. For this reason, Beatrice thanked all members for their efforts and resilience. Indeed, “after a year we know each other better, we feel closer and we are stronger.”

To accomplish this, during the meeting, the Work package 4: Study and observation of African VET System, a renewed calendar of mobility flows and a new methodology for virtual mobility called The Voyage were presented, as well as different tools which had been carefully and meticulously prepared so that the project could run smoothly, with a precise organization and good communication among all the partners involved in SAAM.

During the presentation of Work package 4, Markus Espeter -representing EVBB and leader of this work- highlighted that now we partner up with the UNESCO Institute for Statistics (UIS) at country level. Markus emphasized that this collaboration will give a great impact on the results and will enhance its relevance. Besides, we presented a series of tools that will support the WP4 and ensure consistency, comparability, quality and the achievement of the objectives, as Asier Carrasco – Mundus technician in charge of WP4 quality assurance- explained later. 

For instance, Manon Lapasset -SAAM technician- explained the mental maps and Sergio Lagarde – SAAM technician-, The Voyage. That is an online methodology for virtual mobility that will be used by the peer-to-peer groups to work during the next months. By using it, we will simulate all the processes and stages as if we were travelling, even if some mobilities will take place at the same time. 

Afterwards, Marta Albújar -SAAM communication technician- launched the tools that will be used for the communication and dissemination of SAAM. On the one hand, she presented the SAAM community, the virtual environment that will allow the communication of the peers and that will host and welcome every stakeholder who shares interest in VET education, internationalization. The SAAM community will be the valorization tool which gives sustainability to the project beyond the funded period. On the other hand, SAAM Worklab, our intranet, will allow partners to be able to share documents and to manage and report their activities in SAAM. 

Administrative processes for the management and financial reports 2020 were explained to the partners thanks to the intervention of Estela Arkarazo -SAAM Administrative and finance responsible-.

Finally, Deirdre Lennan -our technician in DG EAC-, invited to the meeting, gave us her congratulations and informed us that the European Commission is equally happy with our enthusiasm, effort and work. Thank you all for your determination and energy, SAAM is an amazing project thanks to this strong and united partnership.

This publication was produced with the financial support of the European Union, under the Africa-EU partnership. Its contents are the sole responsibility of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of the European Union

 

 

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