MyCred4Home: Inclusion through Micro-Certifications

The MyCred4Home project is an initiative by the European Union aimed at improving the social and professional inclusion of low-skilled individuals. This European project is the 8th we have participated in. We are the coordinator and have rolled it out with partners from Spain, Italy, Cyprus, and Belgium. These European projects we engage in are driving forces for reflection and innovation, and we are committed to strengthening and sustaining this work by integrating it into accessible systems, closely linked to the dynamic and committed political framework of the professional branch in our sector.

To understand the origins of this project, we must go back to 2021: "When the European Commission launched its reflection on micro-certifications, we didn’t hesitate for long to take up the subject and imagine that a bridge could be built in favor of workers. As a certifier within the French framework for the recognition of ‘formal’ skills, we are also aware of the importance of exploring other means of recognizing skills to better support and secure professional journeys," said Nadège Turco during her speech.

For the Deputy Director of IPERIA, this topic bridges numerous challenges we face both in France and within the European Union: "It addresses the necessary visibility of the skills of employees in our sector, who often lack formal qualifications, yet whose developed social skills are essential to the successful execution of their jobs. Moreover, it promotes social inclusion and professional integration of vulnerable groups such as migrants, job seekers, and people undergoing career transitions, by offering a more concise, accessible, and personalized solution for recognizing skills that meets the specific needs of each individual".

Micro-certifications, at the heart of the MyCred4Home project, are a tool for recognizing skills that has been closely studied in Europe. This is what Anastasia Pouliou explained during the event at the International University Campus of Paris. An expert from the Department of Vocational Training and Qualifications at the European Centre for the Development of Vocational Training (CEDEFOP), she shared her work which defines micro-certifications as qualifications aimed at recognizing specific skills, often acquired outside of traditional pathways. They address the needs of the labor market by offering modular and flexible skills, thus promoting employability and lifelong learning. This format helps workers quickly adapt to economic and technological changes.

New forms of recognition can also be through Open Badges. Philippe Petitqueux, Secretary General of Reconnaître - Open Recognition Alliance, who is deeply committed to promoting this tool, shared his expertise and insights during the MyCred4Home closing event: The badge allows you to say, "I have learned something, and I would like it to be visible."  It puts words on skills and experiences acquired and documents them. Behind the image, there is a wealth of information: description, criteria, other badge recipients, date of issuance, endorsements, etc. They can potentially create a link to a reference framework (ROME, ESCO, etc.). It's a tool inspired by the world of scouts, who recognize each other through the patches they sew on their jackets. For home employment, it can help work on self-esteem, give people the opportunity to talk about their skills, and build confidence.

Anatolii Garmash, Senior Specialist in Qualification at the European Training Foundation (ETF), explained how micro-certifications support more flexible, lifelong learning paths by aligning education with the changing needs of the labor market. Micro-certifications are seen as a way to validate specific skills in a more targeted manner, which is especially useful for individuals who wish to develop new skills without committing to long programs.

Bridges exist. By validating and certifying micro-competencies acquired and incorporating Open Badges, the MyCred4Home project enhances the visibility and authenticity of the career paths of professionals in the personal and household services (PHS) sector, a rapidly growing field in Europe, which includes essential jobs such as assistance to the elderly and families.

What is the path proposed by MyCred4Home? How did it emerge? How has it developed over the 30 months of the project? The European stakeholders of MyCred4Home, gathered both in person and remotely at the International University Campus of Paris, shared their insights.

Ariana Camacho, Project Manager at IPERIA, outlined the 4 stages: "We began with a field research phase and outreach to sector experts, employees, and employers in different countries. This phase helped identify the most in-demand skills in home care and design assessments for each micro-skill, gathered into a framework. The third stage was the testing of tools in two countries, Spain and France. Finally, the last step was compiling the findings and writing a practical guide. At each stage, the project became a little more concrete."

To take the first step, that of study and research, STePS (an Italian consulting company specializing in adult education, sociological research, etc.), represented by Roberto Righi, its President, conducted a research phase across 5 countries, highlighting three key points: "Micro-certification is a new opportunity for lifelong learning; it is essential to combine formal and informal knowledge, and to promote social dialogue and the attractiveness of this sector, which should not be underestimated or undervalued. We learn informally every day and acquire knowledge and skills; it is important to recognize them."

The second step fully engaged IPERIA's teams, as it was our Professional Engineering and Certification Services that identified, based on STePS' research, the micro-skills to assess for integration into the home employment sector and created a framework. Camille Savre, Head of the service, explained this task: “We asked ourselves the following question: what type of skills could we assess? Our idea was to explore skills that are not necessarily visible. And we identified 4.” These micro-skills are: technical (performing cleaning tasks), soft skills (following instructions), linguistic (addressing simple phrases to the employer), and transversal (being able to organize oneself).

In order to assess these micro-skills based on the framework created by IPERIA, the team from the University of Cyprus developed an interactive platform, which Constantinos Tefkros Loizou presented on October 24 in Paris. This fun and interactive simulation allows for testing (future) employees in multiple languages: French, Spanish, and English.

Intuitive and easy to use: the site designed for candidates places them in various situations. They must complete different tasks, which are then evaluated by an examiner. An important note: an expert candidate can become an evaluator themselves if they achieve the expert level of the badge. The platform will be operational at the beginning of November.

Finally, Ariana Romero, from the Spanish training organization GDOCE, shared her expertise. Her team, along with Camille Savre’s team, conducted a full-scale test of the platform with 30 participants: 15 Spanish job seekers and 15 French job seekers and employees. This test validated the methodology before offering recommendations for broader adoption within the PHS sector and potentially other sectors. Thus, the feedback gathered will help enrich a practical guide, the 4th deliverable of the project, which the Spanish team is responsible for developing. The guide will be designed to explain to other entities in the sector, or even other sectors, how to structure and develop standards and methods around micro-certification.

Before concluding the discussions, Nadège Turco wanted to emphasize that everything mentioned by the experts at this event resonates with what we are currently facing in France: the need to create employment levers for individuals, allowing them to continue progressing, possibly within the company, and to think about new tools for professional pathways and securing careers. "This is what we are doing in France with social partners, and I believe that we will soon revisit the topic of micro-certification with the sector because it is a very powerful lever," she stated."

Marie Béatrice Levaux, President of the European Federation of Family Employment (EFFE), concluded the conference by emphasizing the importance of recognition in the sector: "Populations need to be valued before they can be professionalized, and all this work around micro-certification will be able to meet its audience." She also reminded attendees of some key figures: "On the European level, there are 10 million workers today in our sector, which represents 3.4% of total employment in Europe, approximately 2.6 million workers directly employed by households at their homes, and nearly 3.5 million workers who are undeclared and do not have access to social rights or social protection. We are therefore facing challenges both in terms of European social dialogue and the consideration of public policies by European policymakers and each member state."

To (re)discover the discussions from the closing event of the MyCred4Home project: