CONTEXT/BACKGROUND OF THE UBAC PROJECT According to the United Nations Population Fund, by 2030 this number will swell to almost 5 billion. In 2011 the EU Commission published the White Paper "Roadmap to a Single European Transport Area – Towards a competitive and resource efficient transport system“, setting the goal of “achieving essentially CO2 free city logistics in major urban centres by 2030”. In order to reduce negative impacts of urban freight distribution activities many EU cities have been established or plan to establish new regulations regarding urban logistics. Some of these regulations have a direct impact on freight traffic organization or in the used transport vehicles. Urban freight transport ensures that consumers and business establishments have the right goods, in the right place, at the right time and in perfect condition. This is an essential ingredient for the vitality of our cities. Urban-courier job plays a particularly important role in this value chain, without it there is not delivery. For a long time this job have been unrecognized and without status. Furthermore companies suffer a shortage of skilled and competent urban-couriers able to face job and environment evolutions. Additionally VET systems in Member States related to transport and logistics need to be improved and become more transparent and more modular so that they can address specific knowledge shortages, up-skilling needs and recognition of vocational qualifications. If urban freight flows are increasing and if there is a need for more and more urban-couriers then it will be possible to make from urban logistics a springboard for employment. Urban-courier job function is not well studied and understood as well as there is lack of appropriate trainings in particular in III EQF level. Certifications for this job are either absent or heterogeneous. They are diverse and don't take into account the required today's skills, by doing this they don't answer to the needs both of employers and life long learning. UBAC PROJECT OBJECTIVES • To build a common training program based on the logic of the European Qualifications Framework, promoting transparency, transferability and recognition of competences and learning outcomes firstly between project partners and then for all countries wishing to join the process initiated by this project. • To design a modular training program for urban-courier job based on business needs and taking into account the employees working conditions improvement. • To provide a modular training course for urban-courier job tailored to business needs and in accordance of employees working conditions. NUMBER & PROFILE OF PARTICIPANTS Four partners form the project consortium. Their complementarity and representativeness ensure: • Cooperation between different complementary skills: knowledge of the transport and logistics industry and targets; teaching expertise and engineering training skills in the production of standards; expertise in project coordination and transnational partnerships. • The complementary points of view, expressing specific national or sectoral, social, economic and educational particularities. DESCRIPTION OF ACTIVITIES • Design of common urban-courier professional profile • Profile task and activities identification • Consultation of the social partners and relevant organizations in the design of curricula. • Creating certification framework EQF level III • Defining weighting criteria specification • Creating training scenarios • Modules content translation (where relevant) • Verification and validation of training contents with companies. • Defining the evaluation criteria for each learning outcome • Operationalization assessment protocols METHODOLOGY TO BE USED IN CARRYING OUT THE UBAC PROJECT The project will use the working methodology developed in a previous transfer of innovation project called CENTRAL as well as following the ECVET principles create "Certification framework" and training programs related to the urban-courier job. EXPECTED UBAC PROJECT RESULTS • Common urban-courier profile definition • Common urban-courier framework • Urban-courier training program design • Urban-courier module content design • Urban-courier training sets • Assessment protocol definition and deployment guidelines IMPACT ENVISAGED & POTENTIAL LONGER TERM BENEFITS • An explicit and clearly identifiable certification, built with the aim of matching the certification and evolution as well as development of the "urban-courier" job. • Professionalization of urban-courier job in accordance with the requirements specifically expressed in EQF level III by transport & logistics companies. • Point of reference for the life long learning taking into account of the diversity of individual pathways for acquiring own skills in the transport & logistics sector (initial training, continuing education, validation of learning outcomes). • Modular training content regarding urban-courier job.