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Foundation for Lifelong Learning Development Innove

Activities of the Foundation:• Administrate the EU Structural Funds in the area of life long learning,

vocational education and working life (Implementing Agency

function)

• Develop and implement of programmes and projects in the field of

vocational education and lifelong learning, including international

projects;

• Support educational institutions and organisations and others in

updating training processes, mediate international experience and

expertise;

• Coordinate of the development and offering of career services;

• Mediate information about career services in Estonia and Europe;

• Organize the collection, analysis and distribution of information

about vocational education and training

According to the articles of association, the Foundation’s strategic

management and supervision is exercised by a Supervisory Board of 5

members. The members of the Supervisory Board are authorised persons

of the Ministry of Education and Research, the Ministry of Social Affairs and

the Ministry of Economic Affairs and Communications. The Foundation is

managed and represented by a Management Board of 2 members: Lea

Orro and Tõnis Arvisto.

MissionTo offer experience, advice and support to the organisations promoting VET and LLL, and to the learning members of society.

VisionThe Foundation is a leading developer of lifelong learning and a promoter of innovation in education.

Innove is situated in the innovative Ülemiste City at Lõõtsa 4.

Repesentatives of Innove at Ülemiste City Mini-Fair.

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Organizational culture and personnel policies

Statistics on employeesAs of January 1, 2010, 77 people worked at Foundation Innove. In addi-tion, 10 employees are on maternity leave. 6 employees have secondary education, 8 post-secondary non-tertiary education, 20 have applied higher education, 22 have Bachelor’s degree, 31 employees have Mas-ter’s degree or higher education corresponding to Master’s degree. The average age of employees is 35,85 years and the average working life at Innove is 3 years.

Why is this data important? As promoters of lifelong learning we consider learning throughout life very important. In the Human Resources policies we value the personal development of employees and we are concerned about every em-ployee gaining the necessary skills and knowledge to do his/her job. In addition to work-related continuous training, we support participation in formal education, enable the employees to work with flexible sched-ule while studying and we recognize those who graduate.

Figures

Budget together with resources allocated for structural funds sup-port. 2010: 1 580 466 299 EEK 2009: 1 473 406 782 EEK

Turnover 2009: 970 408 948 EEKIncrease by 2,5 times compared to 2008.• Administrative costs for the foundation: 39 379 553 EEK• EU structural funds paid out: 930 844 496 EEKIn 2009 ca 3,7 million EEK was mediated every day as structural funds support.

Statistic on employees 2004 – 47 2010 – 77

National Resource Centre for Guidance

12 positions

Head of Unit

Specialist

Information Specialist

VET Observations Centre

3 positions

Project Development and Implementation Unit 8,6 positions

Head of Unit

Assistant

Training Specialist

Communication Specialist

Leading Career Counselling Specialist

Career ServicesCo-ordinator

Leading Career Education Specialist

Leading Career Information Specialist

Career Education Specialist

RajaleidjaCo-ordinator

Career Information Specialist (2)

Head of Unit

Assistant

Co-ordinator

Assistant

Public Relations Specialist

Skills Competitions Co-ordinator (1,6)

Newsletter Editor (0,6)

International Skills Competitions

Co-ordinator (0,4)

Programme of promoting VET

Manager

Personnel Specialist Personnel Manager

CommunicationSpecialist

Administrative Specialist

Secretary

Senior Lawyer

Advisor (Structural Funds)

Internal Auditor

Assistant of Management Board

Lawyer

Supervisory Board5 members

Management Board2 members

Head of Unit

Finance Unit15 positions

Assistant

Senior Accountant Payment Specialist (8)

Accountant (2)

Budget and Accounting Service: Head Accountant

Payment service: Senior Payment

SpecialistSecretary

Data PuncherDeputy Head of Unit

Monitoring Specialist (3)

Head of Unit

Structural Funds Unit39 positions

Assistant

Senior Co-ordinator (2)

Co-ordinator (7)

Education Service:Head of Service

Assistant

Senior Co-ordinator

Co-ordinator (7)

Lifelong Learning Ser-vice: Head of Service

Assistant

Senior Co-ordinator

Co-ordinator (8)

Labour Market Service:Head of Service

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Why do we keep a record of time worked and age? We acknowledge our employees on their work anniversaries. We try to prepare a special surprise for every employee on their birthday. In addi-tion we traditionally celebrate all the birthdays of every month togeth-er, where we pay special attention to every employee and in addition, develop team work skills.

Title for being a family and employee friendly employerIn 2009 we received a valuable title in the competition for a family and employee friendly employer. To acknowledge organizations which val-ue a positive working environment and take into account the family life of employees, the Bureau of Population Minister, newspaper Äripäev and magazine Home and Family held the 9th competition to find out the most family and employee friendly organizations, where 59 of them took part in. Three indicators were taken into account to decide the order and the winners: family-friendliness, working environment and the development of employees. In all three categories combined, we shared the 13.-14. place. We are proud of that achievement, since there are so many organizations which do not even think of participating. The 59 who decided to take part, showed that they care about their staff members.

Summer school for employees and families

HRM staff in a birthday celebration in the park

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How is it expressed in our case first and foremost?

• Recruitment policy At first, we announce the vacancy in-house to give opportunities for our

employees to advance.

• Orientation A new employee is appointed a supervisor who supports him/her during

the probation period. In addition, others are happy to help the new colleague – the most important thing is that he/she would feel welcome. For new employees there is also the traditional inauguration ritual.

• Development of employees Performance reviews are carried out every year. Special attention is paid

to fulfilling the tasks, setting objectives, developing needs and also topics concerning job satisfaction. As a result of the reviews a training plan is set up, where the development needs for the whole organization as well as every individual ones are taken into account.

• Salary system We consider it important that the salary system be transparent and

motivating for the employees. The basis for assigning salaries is a system on graded levels for each post, which are reviewed according to the changes in the organization and the labour market.

• Motivation package Based on years worked we give additional vacation days. We try to be

considerate about the employees’ family life as much as possible. We support employees on sad occasions and allow flexible working time. We keep the employees on maternity leave informed, so that coming back to work would be as painless as possible.

Organizational culture We treasure common values, our activities are transparent and our behaviour ethical, we are honest and open. We trust one another and listen to others’ opinion, in achieving results we consider team work important. We cherish our traditions and create new ones. We are convinced that if the employees have the necessary knowledge and they are satisfied with their job, then the good results will follow.

Innove team „Lifelong grade 5B“ in the Rat Race

„Team spirit“

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Structural Funds Unit

Lifelong Learning Service

• Operational Programme for Human Resource Development• Priority axis “Lifelong learning“• Programmes: 10• Open calls: 2• 2007-2013 total: 423 million EEK• Planned payments 2010: 175 million EEK

Labour Market Service

• Operational Programme for Human Resource Development• Priority axis “Good-quality and long working life”• Programmes: 10• Open calls: 5 (continual)• 2007-2013 total: 2 billion EEK• Planned payments 2010: 400 million EEK

• Operational Programme for Human Resource Development• Priority axis “Lifelong learning“• Programmes: 7• Investment plans• 2007-2013 total: 380 million EEK• Planned payments 2010: 66,5 million EEK

• Operational Programme for the Development of the Living Environment• Priority axis: VET, SEN, youth work• Programmes: 10• Investment plans• 2007-2013 total: 3,3 billion EEK- Planned payments 2010: 1,1 billion EEK

Education Service

Structural Funds unit mediates European Union’s Structural Funds assistance in the areas of labour market and edu-cation- counsels applicants, makes decisions about grants, manages support, provides oversight and participates in designing legal acts and instructions concerning EU Structural Funds assistance. The structural unit was estab-lished in 2003 and it is the largest unit at the foundation, employing 30 people at the moment. The unit comprises 3 teams: Lifelong Learning team, Labour Market team and Education team. In addition, there is a close cooperation with several other specialists of the foundation.

In 2004-2006 foundation Innove coordinated 1,1 billion EEK of EU Structural Funds support. From the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) measure 4.3 „Modernisation of infrastructure for vocational and higher education” 10 VET colleges, 4 professional higher education institutions, 5 guidance centres and 7 youth centres were supported. In total, 66 different projects were supported.

Within the European Social Fund measure1.1 „Educational system supporting the flexibility and employability of the labour force and providing opportunities of lifelong learning for all” 6 open calls for projects were announced and 201 projects in total were supported.

Allocated EU assistance was successful, almost all projects fulfilled their project plans and reached the expected objectives, the designated finances were paid out. By the end of the period the percentage of the support used was 100,02% in the European Social Fund and 99,83% in the European Regional Development Fund.

In 2007-2013 Foundation Innove coordinates the Structural Funds assistance in the areas of education and working life within the Operational Programme for Human Resource Development and the Operational Programme for the Development of the Living Environment, over 6 billion EEK in total.

During the present period, Innove has to allocate 2,8 billion EEK towards the support from European Social Fund designated to help the education and labour market sectors through Operational Programme for Human Resource Development. The support goes to programmes, whose implementors have been designated by the Ministries as well as projects through open calls for projects.

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Upon the axis “Good-quality and long working life” programmes and open calls for projects are carried out:

• Increasing availability of qualified labour force• Improving the quality of working life• Supporting inclusion to the labour market via welfare measures

Veriora Youth Centre before and after the renovations

Excerpts from making the broadcast „Jobseeker“(project supported from the

measure „Increasing the availability of qualified labour force“)

• Providing health awareness• Promoting of gender equality• The intermediate body (coordinating development of the

abovementioned policies, designing the programmes, legal framework etc.) for the priority axis “Good-quality and long working life” is the Ministry of Social Affairs.

Three open calls for proposals took place in the labour market axis in 2009. In the first open call of the new period – “Increasing the availability of qualified labour force“ – it was possible to allocate 150 million EEK. 119 applications were submitted to Innove, 32 of which were granted. The second call for proposals in the same measure was closed on November 30th. In total, 198 project proposals competed for 200 million EEK, the best 49 of them got the funding.

The volume of the call “Active labour market measures supporting welfare measures” was 25 million EEK. In total, 74 proposals were submitted, the funding was granted to 13. The main objective of the projects receiving the grant was to offer integrated guidance services to help persons with a caring obligations (including services targeted to persons with an obligation to care for the elderly, disabled and disabled children).

In the first half of 2010, a call for proposals, designated for employers’ and employees’ organizations „Improving the quality of working life,“ took place, in which activities concerning the publication and introduction of information materials on collective bargaining and new labour law are supported. 13 proposals compete for the 6 million EEK support from the European Social Fund. The receivers of the grant will be announced in July 2010.

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Programmes in the same axis will be implemented within the following measures:

• Development of professional qualifications system• Development of the quality of Youth work• Development of Information and Counselling system• Development of language learning• Substantive modernisation and securing the quality of Vocational

Education• Development of Adult Education• Reducing dropout rates in schools, Improving Access to Education

and Quality of Education• The implementing unit for the lifelong learning priority axis is the

Ministry of Education and Research.

Foundation Innove has to coordinate the allocation of 3,3 billion EEK of the support from the European Regional Development Fund through the Operational Programme for the Development of the Living Environment, which will be distributed to the receivers of the grant through investment plans. There will be no open calls, the receivers of grants have been designated by the state. With the support, study facilities, dormitories and youth and guidance centres will be renovated and built all over Estonia, study aids, equipment and furniture will be upgraded.

Foundation Innove has to coordinate three measures: • Modernization of the study environment of vocational schools – 90 projects will be supported.• Improvement of the quality of the study environment at schools in-

tended for students with special educational needs (SEN) through de-veloping the relevant infrastructure

– 34 projects will be supported. • Modernization of open youth centres, information and counselling

centres and hobby schools – 37 projects will be supported.

Many facilities are in the process of being finished or designed, but quite a few have already been finished. The canteen of Räpina Gardening school has been finished, Tallinn Industrial Education Centre has gotten a brand new lab for renovating and painting car frames, some equipment for study labs and the dormitory has been renovated. Thanks to the financial assistance, Luua Forestry school has been able to obtain contemporary machinery for teaching forestry vehicles, the facilities of Orava Youth Centre have been refurbished.

Additional information at www.innove.ee/structural-funds

In the priority axis “Lifelong learning“ open calls for proposals are carried out in 2 measures:• Decreasing dropout, increasing availability and improving the quality of education• Developing learner orientated and innovative VET and broadening the opportunities for lifelong learning.

The first open call for proposals in education during the present period „Inclusive, multifacetous and safe general education“ has stirred a lot of interest. 195 project proposals competed for almost 32 million EEK, out of which the best 20 received the grant. Calls for proposals in VET and adult education are planned for summer of 2010.

New mechatronics equipment at Tallinn Industrial Education Centre

Kaelase School

Youth Centre in Abja

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National Resource Centre for GuidanceFoundation Innove National Resource Centre for Guidance (henceforth NRCG) was founded in 1998 as the Estonian Centre for Euroguidance network. Euroguidance is a network of centres linking together the Careers Guidance systems in Europe. Euroguidance promotes mobility, helping guidance counsellors and individuals to better understand the opportunities available to European citizens throughout Europe.

Today, the NRCG works as a methodological centre, implementing programme ”Development of Career Guidance System,” supported by the European Social Fund. In developing the career services, the Centre is following the cooperation agreement between the Ministry of Education and Research and the Ministry of Social affairs, signed on 2008.

The activities of the NRCG:• Create the information and methodological materials necessary to

offer career services; • Develop a training system for career specialists and organizing

training; • Coordinate career services, offered in regional information and

counselling centres and develop activities in pilot schools; • Develop and implement a quality assurance system for career

services;• Inform the public about career services;• Involve stakeholders in developing career services;• Disseminate of information and experience in the field of career

services; • Promote of mobility for learning opportunities in Europe;

The direct target group of the NRCG comprises guidance specialists in Estonia and Europe. An indirect target group is the whole population of Estonia, the sectors of the highest priority are the students making career choices and young people going to the labour market for the first time.

In order to establish a guidance system, raise the quality of services and improve the availability, a well-working cooperation is needed between individuals and organizations. The partners of the NRCG have united in the national forum for career services, whose objective is a unified, working and coordinated system of career services. The forum comprises ministries and their specialized agencies, representatives of local municipalities, education and research institutions, target groups and organizations representing service providers, umbrella organization of the representative of entrepreneurs.

The closest partners of the NRCG in providing career services are 17 regional information and counselling centres. The development activities of career education are carried out by 26 general education schools and 7 vocational education and training institutions.

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Guidance specialists in summer school

We are active also internationally – in cooperation with members of the Euroguidance network we disseminate information about learning opportunities in Europe and advance Estonian Career services system by bringing

experience from Europe into it. Long term cooperation with the network Academia has enabled us to offer international study visits for Estonian career specialists and introduce our experience to practitioners from other

European countries. As an Estonian representative of the European Lifelong Guidance Policy Network we cooperate on working out national policies for career services, including establishing a quality assurance framework.

Since 2010 we are partners in the University network for Innovation in Guidance. The main focus of the network is professionalization of career guidance specialists.

Career services in Estonia in general

Career services have been offered and developed in Estonia for over 90 years. The most innovative facet about this is the name ”career services”— throughout history the concepts of vocational counselling, vocational direction, vocational orientation and vocational supervision have been used.

Changes in labour market, transformation of demands and expectations and inevitability of lifelong learning have caused a change in the content of services. Rather than simply offering vocational guidance, we provide three different types of career services:

• Developing knowledge, skills and attitudes necessary for career planning by offering career education• Creating and disseminating well structured and relevant career information• Offering career counselling, which supports the process of decisions and choices

Career services are offered both, by public and private sectors. The most important networks are regional information and counselling centres, career centres at higher education institutions and departments of Estonian Unemployment Insurance Fund in counties. Career services are available also in general education schools and in several VET schools. Career services are offered by career specialists - career coordinator, career information specialist and career counsellor.

The quality of career education in schools is determined by national curricula. According to the new national curricula for basic schools and gymnasiums career education is obligatory as a cross curricula theme ”Lifelong

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learning and career planning” and recommended as an elective course or subject. The majority of VET curricula contain the topic lifelong learning. In order to enhance the quality of career education and obtain systematic career education, several educational institutions have worked out an action plan for career education procedures and created a post for a career coordinator in their institution.

Provision of career counselling and career information to the youth is carried out by the regional information and counselling centres. The services are offered by career information specialists and career counsellors. Quality requirements of career counselling and career information dissemination have been described in relevant handbook, which the regional centres are following in offering the services.

You can read more on career services and study mobility on web pages Rajaleidja (Path Finder) www.rajaleidja.ee, Ploteus www.ploteus.net, Innove web page www.innove.ee/career-services and a newsletter published once a quarter Karjäärituul www.rajaleidja.ee/karjaarituul

The team of the NRCG

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Project Development and Implementation UnitThe Project Development and Implementation Unit coordinates the promotion of vocational education in Estonia as well as the implementation of international projects, programmes and initiatives. The unit was founded in 2006, at present there are 8 employees in the unit.

In 2008, a five year VET promotion programme, financed by the European Social Fund, was launched. The main objective of the programme is to raise the awareness of the Estonian population about Vocational Education and training (VET) and the possibilities to study VET.

In the programme, the following activities are carried out: skills competitions are held, VET newspaper is published and a brochure advertising the opportunities to study VET is released in cooperation with the VET Observation Centre. Communication trainings are organized for the employees of VET Institutions and creative projects contest: „VET is Cool“ is held for the students in VET institutions.

Youth Skills CompetitionsProject development unit coordinates youth skills competitions in Estonia and equips young people for the international skills competitions EuroSkills and WorldSkills. Foundation Innove is the official representative of Estonia in the organizations responsible for setting up the competitions. Estonians have successfully participated twice in the global challenge WorldSkills and once in the pan-European contest EuroSkills. The first EuroSkills ever was held in 2008 in Holland and Estonian competitors returned with two medals (silver for the slater and bronze for the bricklayer).

Estonian representation in Calgary, WorldSkills 2009 / The best Estonian competitor carpenter Ivo Ilm

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The Global contest WorldSkills has a much longer tradition and the competitions held in Canada in 2009 were the 40th in row. In Lisbon in December 2010 in the EuroSkills, Estonia will be represented with the record 20 young people in 19 fields.

After regaining the national independence, skills competitions were first held again in 1994. Innove has been organizing skills contests since 2006. Every year, the number of skills competitions organized by Innove has been rising. In 2010 there will be 20 competitions in 25 fields. Year 2009 was the first time when Young Master, a big event, comprising skills competitions in many fields, was held. There are plans to continue with the comprehensive competition, so Young Master 2010 will take place in cooperation with a popular youth information fair Teeviit.

The supporters of the Estonian Skills Competitions are European Social Fund and the Ministry of Education and Research (MoER), participation in international competitions is supported by the MoER. In addition, many VET Institutions, enterprises and professional associations support the initiative.

Contents in Estonia and Estonian participation internationally have been brought under one brand EstoSkills.

Help for the decision makerA reference guide Help for the decision maker 2010/11, published annually, gives an overview of study programs offered in Estonian VET institutions, it contains comprehensive tables by schools and subjects. In addition, there are stories about VET graduates, trends in economy and labour market and practical advice is given. The reference guides are distributed by regional information and guidance centres, they are also available in libraries and in schools, they are distributed to all the basic school graduates in their schools.

CompetitionIn the spring of 2010 there was a photo, video and audio files contest „VET is cool!“ for the young people studying VET. It is a great chance for VET students to introduce their speciality, school and future profession. The winners will be sent to Lisbon, to watch the Estonian team perform in the European Skills Competition EuroSkills.

Communication trainingIn cooperation with the communications company Corpore, a four module communication training was carried out. It was targeted at leaders and PR specialists in VET institutions with an objective to offer theoretical knowledge as well as hone the practical skills needed in public relations. As an additional bonus, the training helped the participants feel like one big family and shape common understanding.

Participant in skills contest Young Master 2009

Hairdressers in skills contest Young Master 2009

“Abiks otsustajale 2010/11”

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VET NewsletterVET newsletter, published within the VET Promotion programme, gath-ers VET related news and disseminates information between the differ-ent agents on the VET landscape. E-newsletter is released once a month, a paper version reaches its readers four times a year. The newsletters can

be accessed at www.innove.ee/uudiskiri

Quality projectThe Project Implementation Unit coordinates the competition of the Quality Award for VET Institutions, whose objective is to help the VET institutions raise the level of teaching and the effectiveness of leadership, introducing school specific self evaluation principles and methodology. Another objective is to disseminate best practices, raise the reputation of the schools and recognize the more advanced institutions.

The schools winning the award will be given the VET Institutions Quality Insignia. Quality Management Conference has been organized since 2005.

One of the important parts of the quality project is the training courses for the employees of the VET institutions. In 2009 there were 2 introductory quality management ABC training courses for VET teachers and for those who had had no experience with quality manage-ment as a discipline. A comprehensive Quality Management Compe-tency training took place from August 2009 untill March 2010. It was targeted at the key persons at VET Institutions. More information

at www.innove.ee/quality

International projectsIn cooperation with international partners Foundation Innove participates in several international projects.

Project “Polices and Practices in Life Long Learning” was a year long international project, initiated by Bulgarian partners, where 9 countries and 12 organizations participated. As a result of the project, information on lifelong learning (LLL) strategies, policies, projects and best practices are available for policy makers, educators, analysts and social partners. The objectives of the project were the creation of a web platform to compare LLL strategies and to analyze comparatively LLL policies and measures and to disseminate the results in Estonia and European

Union. Additional information: www.eupractices.eu

The project “Support to VET, Labour Market and LLL systems in the northern part of Cyprus” is financed by the European Commission. The project lasts for 3 years and Foundation Innove is involved in the project with German and Irish partners. Thanks to the wealth of experience of the consortium partners, the strength of the methodol-ogy and noted key experts, the consortium was selected from among 8 candidates. Innove participates in the consortium with experts in developing the apprenticeship system in Cyprus, offering career services, raising the image of VET and forming strategies. Short term experts from Foundation Innove participate in the project in the

specified fields. www.vetlam.eu

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VET Observation Centre The VET Observation Centre is a Structural Unit of Foundation Innove. Its objectives are to gather information about Vocational Education and Training (VET) in Estonia and make it available to European countries and disseminate European VET information in Estonia. VET observation Centre became a coordinator of ReferNet, European Network of Reference and Expertise in May 2004. ReferNet network was founded by Cedefop to provide comparable information on Member States’ developments and policies in VET and to compile the knowledge and experience of key organisations.

Every year, the VET Observation Centre along with other ReferNet coordinators across Europe compiles reports and overviews of its country’s VET systems. In recent years the work has concentrated on reviewing and analyzing the results of the Copenhagen process (2002-2010). In addition, Cedefop’s electronic library VET-Bib gets new entries continuously added to its database with a list of VET publications and electronic documents. Foundation Innove has been established with the objective to promote initiatives and activities for lifelong learning through Estonian and EU programmes in the area of human resources development. Innove continues the activities of the foundation Vocational Education and Training Reform in Estonia (since 1995).

Since 2008, the VET Observation Centre has been holding bi-annual information seminars, where pan-European initiatives in VET and the related fields are introduced, for example there have been seminars on the skills needs and supply on European labour market till 2020, the development of VET in Europe, green economy and sustainable development. The centre has put out publications on these topics.

CEDEFOP’s web portal www.cedefop.europa.eu displays information on Cedefop’s initiatives in VET and Lifelong Learning and ReferNet’s reports and other databases.

Information on VET in Estonia in English is on VET Observation Centre’s webpage www.innove.ee/refernet. On this page one can also find the collaborative workspace, displaying real time news from several Refer-Net units across Europe.

VET Observation Centre also houses the foundation’s library, which is unique in Estonia, since it contains VET resources from across Europe.

Kersti Raudsepp, Head of the Unit

Seirekeskuse väljaanne

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Foundation for Lifelong Learning Development Innove

Homepage. www.innove.ee E-mail: [email protected]

Phone: + 372 699 8080, fax: +372 699 8081 Address: Lõõtsa 4, Tallinn 11415, Estonia

Published in 2010 by Foundation for Lifelong Learning Development Innove

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