·Full project title: Integration of the Quality Assurance System Eco-Qualify into EQF and ECVET - Leonardo da Vinci Partnership -

·Acronym: ECO QUALIFY for EQF

·Duration: 1st July 2010 - 30th September 2012

·Project leader: Organic Retailers Association (ORA) is the International umbrella association of National Organic retailers associations and organic retailers world-wide (www.o-r-a.org).

·Main funder:European Commission (Education and Culture DG – Lifelong Learning Programme).

·Contact staff at IFOAM EU Group: Andrzej Szeremeta

Project aims

ECO-QUALIFY is a comprehensive European Quality Assurance System for further education in organic retail. It offers a basis for meaningful assessment and certification systems and contributes to the alignment of different training and evaluation systems. The partnership aims to analyze how to integrate ECO-QUALIFY outcomes into European Qualification Framework (EQF) knowledge, skills and competencies levels. Another intention is to analyze how to integrate Eco-Qualify into European Credit system for Vocational Education and Training (ECVET), identifying basic units and points able to establish a shared credits system for transferring recognized qualifications in different European country vocational and educational (VET) contexts. The third aim is to develop “translation devices” able to make these qualifications recognizable inside National Qualification System (NQS) of each involved partner.

Objectives

Previous ECO-QUALIFY LDV projects set out the learning paths needed to get basic and advanced qualifications for organic food retailers. These learning contents have been formalized inside a QAS, published in project and partners’ website. In continuity with these projects, “ECO-QUALIFY for EQF” now intends to attain three closely connected objectives:

1) To translate QAS Eco-Qualify qualifications into EQF system.

2) To create Ecoqualify qualifications’ credit system.

3) While developing these activities, partners will be engaged in the third project objective, namely to refer Ecoqualify qualifications to National Qualification Frameworks, as they currently are not yet at the same building phase.

Project coordinator and partners

The partnership consists of eight institutions from six countries.

·The European umbrella organization for organic retail ORA (AT) – coordinator-

Partners

·Associazione Terre Dell’Adriatico (IT)

·Institute Equalita (DE)

·Forum Berufsbildung (DE)

·Ökomarkt from Germany (DE)

·The Bulgarian Higher School "Agricultural College" (BG)

·EuroPartnership Agency Ltd. (UK)

·IFOAM EU Group (BE)