Since September 2020 when Advenio eAcademy as the lead partner in the consortium, entered into a grant Agreement with EUPA, the Malta National Agency, on behalf of Erasmus+ for the EU funding of the project “Integrated RPL & APEL Level 6 Accredited Online Programme for Entrepreneurs“, ARPEL4Entrep, all consortium partners have been busy with the development and implementation of the project. The project partners are: Advenio eAcademy, Malta (lead partner); University of Bari Aldo Moro, Italy; University of Ioannina, Greece; University of Zilina, Slovakia; Vilnius University, Lithuania; EUCEN – European University Continuing Education Network, Spain; and AllSecure Ltd – eBusiness Systems, Malta.
This project provides a framework for recognition of prior learning to enable seasoned entrepreneurs to continue with their studies at a first degree level. It focuses on the development of Accreditation & Recognition of Prior & Experiential Learning (ARPEL) process where credit is given for learning which has not previously been assessed and formally accredited.
The Ioannina Transnational Meeting followed up on discussions held during the Transnational Meeting held in Bari in May 2022 regarding the ARPEL implementation process. This was revised to provide more weight to personal experiences often including unstructured informal and formal learning experiences.
The Meeting commenced with a dinner hosted by the Rector of the University of Ioannina providing an excellent opportunity for the project partners to meet the University of Ioannina team.
The discussions at the transnational meeting included an analysis of student feedback on the ARPEL process and the specialist subject modules already implemented. The excellent feedback from students was most encouraging.
A review of final research topics was then held to ensure allocation of the most appropriate supervisors to students from amongst the expert international faculty available through the HEI partners. The range of topics selected by students was indeed diverse ranging from block-chain, AI, ecommerce operations, tourism services, ICT for SMEs, HR systems for SMEs and Non-Fungible Tokens amongst other topics. Despite the extensive range of services, the consortium quickly found suitable tutors to be assigned as supervisors on the specific research project.
A discussion of the dissemination activities to be held prior to the completion of the project was then held to ensure that the full project programme is implemented within the timeframes set. Discussions also focused on the content for a series of feature articles and a content for peer reviewed journals.
The meeting also discussed the sustainability of the ARPEL Bachelor’s Degree in Entrepreneurship programme once the Erasmus+ project is completed and further developments to extend this for other programmes and EQF levels.