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Published on: 06/05/2021Updated on: 06/05/2021
Each month, IPERIA experts share insights into their profession. their roles, daily professional routines, key achievements within the department, and the skills they draw upon to contribute, in their own way, to the professionalization of the individual employment and domestic work sector. Because this challenge resonates beyond French borders, IPERIA has been engaged in Europe for about ten years, notably through coordinating several projects. Gloria Ortiz, European Projects and Partnerships Manager opens the doors to her world filled with "Hello," "Hola," and "Ciao" a few days before Europe Day, held on May 9. Let's discover more.
What is the "European Projects and Partnerships" service? What are its missions?
The primary mission of the department, which includes Elena (editor's note: Elena Diordieva, European Projects Officer) and myself, is to develop and manage European projects. As project coordinators, we ensure their proper execution. If problems arise, we must be able to bounce back, react, and find solutions.
In parallel, there's a whole partnership component. This involves cultivating our network and maintaining contact with our partners and European stakeholders. We focus on showing that IPERIA works on sector professionalization in France but that this is a shared challenge at the European level. We're looking for unexplored approaches to new opportunities such as the Asylum, Migration and Integration Fund (AMIF) or the European Social Fund (ESF). In 2020, the European funding call launched by Hélène Blacher, our colleague in charge of partnerships and collaborative projects, supported training for more than 10,000 sector professionals and strengthened language skills for 2,000 domestic employees from non-EU third countries.
This partnership work helps inform current and future projects within IPERIA. It allows colleagues to exchange with peers in the EU. The context is different, but seeing how things work elsewhere is enriching. Ultimately, we often find that the French model is more advanced than in other countries thanks to a consolidated legislative framework and state financial support, notably through tax credits. The professions exist, and the skills are more or less the same. The professionalization challenges are similar. These European projects feed our thinking and nurture work already in progress. For example, regarding micro-credentials, one of the 12 actions in the new European skills strategy, we can draw a parallel with the new level II certification that IPERIA is working on for France. This allows us to test new approaches and methods unprecedented in France.
Finally, we regularly monitor EU developments, calls for projects, and contributions, particularly the annual Erasmus+ call for projects. The essence of our job is seizing opportunities that arise. Last year, the European Commission presented the European skills strategy for sustainable competitiveness, social fairness, and resilience. It also launched a consultation on micro-credentials, to which we responded with input about RPL by block, prepared with the institutional relations and certification services.
What skills are needed to work in the service?
The key skill at the heart of our profession is project management with nuances compared to short projects that allow for planning over a limited period. Here, we need to work over two or three years with the changes in entities, stakeholders, and staff that this implies. Administratively, things can evolve over such a period, too. It's a long-distance race, and you need to be prepared. Foreign language proficiency is also fundamental, especially English, as it's the working language in the EU. Moreover, you must be organized for all the coordination and show flexibility and adaptability. I like to say that a project's application file is our "bible," but there are sometimes elements we can't predict. The multicultural approach is a dimension that should not be neglected.What are your proudest achievements and successes?
There are two. First, the satisfaction of seeing Carer+ selected in the top 25 most influential projects in new technologies and active aging by the European Commission. Several colleagues succeeded each other in coordinating this project; quality work was carried out and the results exceeded expectations. Carer+ is often cited as an example by partners and European stakeholders. We are proud to have contributed to it.
Furthermore, one of the most recent beautiful successes is PRODOME. In Italy and Spain, 12% of people found employment immediately after the "family assistant" training. Enabling all these people to improve their professional prospects, develop their skills, and find employment is at the heart of our mission.
