The online meeting started with a hearty welcome of all participants and a review of the meeting programme. The aims of the meeting were also clearly stated. 

The Hungarian partner summarized O1 the Report on good practices related to the organization of national skills competitions and qualification events for EuroSkills. The comparative analysis prepared by Zoltán Pete and István Vidovszky was discussed and accepted by the partnership. O1 includes information on the condition of VET in every partner country, the discrepancy between VET and EuroSkills standards, the recruitment procedures for skills competitions, the role of experts and judges, and finally the financial and management issues concerning organization of skills competitions. It ends with general recommendations.

An update on O2 was made by the partners. The A1 Skills tests for Plastering and Drywall Systems. have been designed. They are in translation at the moment. Once the skills tests are ready FERI will deal with their electronic design to match the project and prepare for print. The consortium agreed to make the tests a part of the WeRskills conference packs in future.

EDITC, the leader of the task, prepared an overview of O4 and summarized its main assumptions. The scope of work related to the output was discussed, namely, the need to create the Best Practices Guide which aims to be an explanatory and encouraging tool for VET students, teachers and trainers who would like to take part in international skills competitions. The idea behind the activity is to look at those competitions from the perspective of VET students and teachers who are interested in competing for excellence and try to guide them on how to join the initiative. The Best Practices Guide should answer the question of how to get involved in the skills competitions. It will also include a Case study of good practices to prove that there are plenty of initiatives across Europe which try to embed the skills competitions in VET. The Cyprian partner divided the scope of work and set a deadline for the first draft of the document to 2^nd April 2021. Relevant materials and methods of work were also suggested.

FERI, the leader of the task, prepared an overview of O5 and summarized its main assumptions. The scope of work related to the output was discussed, namely, the need to create the WeRskills ePlatform which is intended as an open educational resource and a means for preparation to national and then international skills competitions. It is designed as a   promotional channel showing skills competitions and the construction industry. It will also allow information exchange and networking between VET schools and the industry to promote the importance of skills. FERI divided the scope of work and set a deadline for gathering the ideas to 7^th February 2021. Relevant materials and methods of work were also suggested.

The short term (3 days) joint staff event in Budapest has been planned to train a group of 10 people (project partners, VET teachers and construction experts) in the organization of national skills competitions. The training will be based on the practical experience of Hungarian experts and its participants will gain knowledge and skills to implement O4 and in the long-run they will be able to organize regional, sectoral and national skills competitions. The Hungarian partner will develop the program and conduct the activity. The training will include a study visit during the Szakma Sztár Fesztivál 2021 in Budapest planned on 26-28^th April 2021.

Travel and assembly restrictions related to the Covid-19 pandemic are our main concern since they affect the project to a large extent. At the moment, the implementation of two activities (LTT in Hungary and a pilot competition in Poland) is uncertain. The dissemination seminars may also be turned into webinars.

Dissemination seminars in Poland

WeRskills Webinar, 29 Oct. 2020

Skills leaders – synergy of schools, crafts and businesses, 17 Feb. 2021 (face to face meeting)

Dissemination seminars in Hungary and Cyprus have not been delivered yet.

The next project meeting is planned in Cyprus in autumn 2021. The discussion also revolved around the EuroSkills competition in Graz, Austria which date has been postponed twice so far. At the moment it is 23-25 Sep. 2021. The partnership decided that the project would benefit significantly from the participation of the consortium in this international event. However, the ongoing situation and the developments concerning the coronavirus pandemic are difficult to predict and consequently the final decision whether to travel to Austria has been postponed a couple of months.

Project Coordinator discussed the financial and management issues. The oncoming Interim Report requires from the partners to submit the following supporting documents: timesheets, invoices, lists of dissemination activities that cover the period July 2020 – January 2021.

The Coordinator informed the consortium about the additional financial and contractual rules applicable only to projects organizing virtual activities due to COVID-19. Namely, an annex to the financial agreement has been signed with the NA which states that beneficiaries may transfer up to 60% of the funds allocated to each of the following budget categories: TPMs, Multiplier events, LTT activities and Exceptional costs to any other budget category, except for Project Management and Exceptional Costs. Additionally, beneficiaries may transfer up to 10% of each budget category to Exceptional Costs to cover the costs associated with the purchase or rental of equipment or services necessary for the implementation of virtual mobilities, even if no funds were originally allocated under the Exceptional costs category.

Secondly, the details of the 2^nd and the 3^rd payment have been discussed and arranged.

Finally, the NA decided that in case the dissemination seminars are turned into webinars, the beneficiary receives 15 Euro per participant instead of 100 Euro.