CALL FOR EXPRESSION OF INTEREST AND PROPOSA: INNOVET phase II (EOIP)

Requester: ProSEED 2.0 & EU4Innovation, Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit GmbH (GIZ), Office Tirana.

Subject of the call

“Advancing Entrepreneurship and Innovation as a new Learning Area in Public VET Schools.”

This phase of INNOVET 2.0 aims to build on the foundation established and further integrate innovation and entrepreneurial thinking into the public Vocational Education and Training (VET) system.

The call is open to interested parties which should form a consortium and commit to collaborate in this process. The consortium should ideally consist of actors as listed below:

• Public VET provider
• Civil Society Organization [CSO – an organization experienced in VET sector, but also incubator/accelerator/coworking space]
• university / higher education institution
• optional: partners from private sector and/or other high schools, etc

Objective of the call

The title of the national wide call is “Advancing Entrepreneurship and Innovation as a new Learning Area in Public VET Schools”.

The primary objective of this call is to expand the role of public VET providers by integrating innovation concepts that connect vocational education with concrete, sustainable solutions. We encourage proposals that extend networking beyond traditional partners and geographical boundaries, linking public VET providers with the broader innovation ecosystem.

The interested entities should develop and propose an innovative approach on how to integrate innovation as a cross-cutting topic and entrepreneurial thinking into the service of public VET providers. Proposals could focus on (I) Fostering the cooperation and expanding the exposure of public VET providers towards innovation and entrepreneurship ecosystem actors and related opportunities (ex. EU funded programmes). (II) Introducing innovative teaching (and learning) methodologies in VET system; developing & enhancing innovative teaching skill- sets for educators in VET public providers via the design& introduction of (extra)curricular activities that support this purpose (III) Conduct extracurricular activities that foster innovation and advance entrepreneurial skills among youngsters in VET public providers as well as other educational institutions (universities and high schools).

Proposals should ideally articulate a clear strategy on how they will transform public VET providers into change agents for innovation. This includes fostering a culture that not only embraces new ideas and technologies but also actively promotes the development of innovative solutions within the educational and professional realm.

Each proposal must engage and activate a minimum of 500 students from VET schools and/or in combination with youth from other public schools located nearby.

Project Timeline and budget of the call 

• The project duration is approximately 12-14 months, to be implemented within timeframe October 2024 – November 2025). Within this timeframe all the activities of the project (setting up, planning, implementing, following up, reporting) should be finished.
• The individual project is up to 3,000,000 ALL.
• The number of projects supported will depend on the quality of the proposals submitted.

Background information and long-term objectives of responsible projects for the call

ProSEED 2.0 project aims to improve the employment situation in Albania, including digital and green elements. The project is implemented by GIZ on behalf of the German Federal Ministry of Economic Cooperation and Development. One of the pillars of ProSEED 2.0 is Vocational Education and Training (VET) looking into modernizing VET qualifications and curricula through digital and green competencies, including school equipment.

The focus of EU4Innovation is to increase the maturity and exposure of the Albanian start-up and innovation ecosystem and its stakeholders. It aims to foster collaboration between quadruple helix actors, and also foster the entrepreneurial culture by expanding the target group to youngsters and aspiring entrepreneurs. EU4Innovation is a Multi Donor Action, jointly co-financed by the EU, the German Federal Ministry of Economic Cooperation and Sida, implemented by GIZ and Sida.

The two projects, GIZ ProSEED 2.0 and EU4Innovation, joined forces and launched INNOVET (Innovation in VET) back in early 2023. The objectives were:

• Promotion of Entrepreneurship and Innovative Thinking as skill sets for future talent in VET public providers.
• Introduction of new forms of cooperation among actors of the innovation eco-system beyond the traditional and established coalition of VET- businesses, hence including universities, CSOs, etc.
• Innovating teaching methodologies in VET system; developing & enhancing innovative teaching skill- sets for educators in VET public providers via the design& introduction of (extra)curricular activities that support development of entrepreneurial and design-thinking skills for participants.

During the one year of implementation [September 2023- August 2024], the following were achieved:

• 5 INNOVET intervention (contracts) were jointly managed by ProSEED & EU4I.
• 5 consortia making up for 15 partner institutions (including VETs schools, universities, CSOs and private sectors) were activated and collaboration was fostered for promoting entrepreneurship and innovative thinking as skill- set for VET students.
• The activities of INNOVET took place in 4 different cities in Albania [Shkodra, Durres, Tirana, Korca]; where over 2000 students were introduced to entrepreneurship notions, over 200 were actively engaged in activities (projects, start-ups idea competition, incubation programmes, etc] and over 200 teachers were introduced to new teaching methods and topics (entrepreneurship, innovation, circular economy, etc)
• INNOVET Project activities consisted of: awareness raising sessions, trainings for teachers and students, workshops, study-visits, start-up mentoring and coaching, start-up idea competitions, etc.
• A Brand for INNOVET was designed and the activities were communicated via different channels, including also a dedicated INNOVET Instagram account.

Responding to the demand of the political partner [MoECI] to support the VET Schools in their transformation towards Multi-Functional Centers [MFCs], GIZ is announcing this call to continue supporting the further advancement of innovation in VET schools via an up-scale of INNOVET initiative.

Eligibility of applicants

The call is open to all public VET providers, which build a consortium with: one CSO (organization experienced in any VET sector, including incubator/accelerator/coworking space); one partner university and /or business(s) and other VET/high schools. All partners of any consortium should be legally registered and active according to Albanian law in force.

First step of the procedure

All legal entities interested in the application process should download the application form to the address:  GIZ Albania page on linked in GIZ Albania: Posts | LinkedIn 

Subsequent step in the selection procedure

1. All EOIPs will be evaluated based on the technical criteria listed in the evaluation grid included in the EOIP. In this phase no budget proposal is required.
2. All entities that have passed the 1st round of evaluation will be invited to submit a budget and the log-frame. Interviews and negotiations can take place before a final decision is made.
3. Contracts will be awarded to the applicants with the best technical and financial offer. Negotiations on the budget can take place before the contract is awarded.

Deadline & submission of documents

All legal entities interested in the application process should download the application form to the address:  GIZ Albania page on linkedin GIZ Albania: Posts | LinkedIn

For further questions contact us via email to [email protected] at least 5 days before the deadline.

The deadline for submitting the application is 15.09.2024

The documents should be submitted in pdf format via e-mail to [email protected].

All written communication for this procedure and the following successful ones must be in English.

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