EXCAPE
Breakout Challenges for Developing Transversal Skills
The Project
XCAPE was an Erasmus+ vocational education and training project that developed digital, challenge-based learning resources to strengthen learners’ transversal skills.
Purpose and approach
The project focused on making vocational learning more practical, engaging and relevant to modern workplaces. Its central approach was digital challenge-based learning: learners work on realistic challenges, apply knowledge in context, collaborate, and develop skills that transfer across occupations.
Main objectives
- Develop digital learning resources and methods based on real-world challenges.
- Support the development of transversal skills, such as problem-solving, collaboration, communication, creativity, digital competence and initiative.
- Help VET educators integrate more learner-centred and digitally supported practices into their teaching.
- Strengthen cooperation among European organisations working in vocational education and training.
Target groups
The project was aimed primarily at:
- VET learners, who would benefit from applied, skills-focused learning;
- VET teachers, trainers and educators, who could use the resources and challenge-based methodology;
- VET organisations and stakeholders, with an interest in innovative digital education practices.
Results
XCAPE sought to provide reusable digital resources and practical support for challenge-based learning in VET. The expected benefit was a more active learning experience that helps learners build competencies valued across different jobs and sectors, while giving educators structured tools to deliver this approach.
The document context available here does not provide detailed information on the project timeline, named intellectual outputs or individual partner work packages.
Project partners
From the XCAPE (KA202-A8CDEB74) application, the partner organisations and countries are:
Project Coordinator
RightNow Iceland
| Other Organisations | Country |
|---|---|
| Rightchallenge – Associação | Portugal |
| Spectrum Research Centre CLG | Ireland |
| INNOVENTUM OY | Finland |
| SYNTHESIS CENTER FOR RESEARCH AND EDUCATION LIMITED | Cyprus |
| EUROPEAN CENTER FOR QUALITY OOD | Bulgaria |
Project period
Start: 01-09-2019 – End: 31-08-2021
About
XCAPE was an Erasmus+ VET project led by RightNow ehf, Iceland, that used digital challenge-based learning to strengthen transversal skills; the project website was intended to be the public hub for publishing and disseminating its results.
Project focus
XCAPE aimed to make vocational education more responsive to workplace and societal needs by helping learners build skills that apply across occupations. Its approach centred on digital challenge-based learning: learners engage with practical, authentic challenges rather than only receiving content passively.
The project’s stated emphasis was on transversal competences, including problem-solving, collaboration, communication, creativity, initiative and digital skills. It also sought to equip VET teachers and trainers with methods and resources for using this approach in their teaching.
Partnership and delivery
RightNow ehf (Iceland) was both the applicant organisation and project coordinator. The partnership included organisations in Portugal, Ireland, Finland, Cyprus and Bulgaria. Their cross-country collaboration combined VET practice, research, digital learning and dissemination capacity.
A key expected outcome was a set of reusable digital learning resources that educators could adapt to challenge-based activities and that learners could use to develop transferable competences in realistic contexts.
Website for publishing results
The website had a central dissemination role: it was the project’s public-facing channel for making results visible, accessible and usable beyond the consortium. Rather than functioning only as a project description page, it should serve as a structured repository for the resources produced during the project.
Its intended publishing functions include:
- Presenting the project clearly: purpose, target groups, challenge-based methodology, consortium members and Erasmus+ support.
- Hosting results and resources: downloadable learning materials, practical guidance, tools and other outputs created by the partnership.
- Documenting project activity: news, events, pilot work, progress updates and evidence of implementation.
- Supporting uptake: giving VET educators, trainers and organisations a place to access and reuse the materials after the funded period.
- Extending dissemination: linking with partners’ channels and wider stakeholder networks so that results reach audiences in the participating countries and beyond.
For the website to support lasting use, its strongest design principle is practical findability: results should be grouped by resource type and user need, with plain-language descriptions, download links, audience labels and clear guidance on how materials can be applied in VET settings.
Results
XCAPE’s results centred on a digital challenge-based learning approach and resources designed to strengthen transversal skills in vocational education and training (VET).
Main results
- Digital challenge-based learning resources: The project developed materials intended to help VET learners work on practical, authentic challenges rather than learn only through passive instruction.
- Transversal-skills development: The resources were designed to support skills that transfer between jobs and sectors, notably problem-solving, collaboration, communication, creativity, initiative and digital competence.
- Support for educators: XCAPE aimed to give VET teachers and trainers practical methods and tools for integrating challenge-based and digitally supported learning into their teaching.
- Public dissemination of outputs: A project website was intended to make the partnership’s results available beyond the consortium, acting as a public access point for project information, learning resources, updates and dissemination materials.
- European cooperation and reuse: Through partners in Iceland, Portugal, Ireland, Finland, Cyprus and Bulgaria, the project created a basis for sharing and adapting the approach across different VET contexts.
Expected value of the results
The central benefit was to make VET learning more active and workplace-relevant. Learners could apply knowledge in realistic tasks, while educators could draw on reusable digital materials to structure that process. Publishing outputs online also supports wider uptake after the project period, provided resources are clearly described, easy to find and available for reuse.
Document limitation: The available document context confirms these broad results, but it does not provide a verified list of named outputs, final pilot results, usage figures, or completed impact metrics. The overview therefore reflects the documented project aims and intended results rather than claiming unverified final-performance data.
Project idea:
XCAPE’s core idea was to modernise vocational education by using digital, real-world challenges to help learners develop skills that are useful across jobs and life situations.
The project idea
Rather than treating learning as the passive delivery of subject content, XCAPE proposed challenge-based learning: learners address meaningful practical problems, collaborate, make decisions, use digital tools and reflect on possible solutions. This makes learning more active and connects VET training more directly with real working environments.
The project focused especially on transversal skills: competences that are not limited to one profession but matter in many roles. These include problem-solving, communication, teamwork, creativity, initiative and digital competence.
Why this approach matters
The underlying premise was that VET learners need more than technical job skills. They also need to adapt, cooperate and respond to unfamiliar situations. Digital challenge-based activities create a setting in which these abilities can be practised together, while helping educators move towards more learner-centred teaching.
What XCAPE aimed to provide
The project intended to turn this idea into practical support for VET by producing digital learning resources and guidance that educators could use in their own settings. The results were also intended to be shared publicly through the project website, enabling educators, learners and VET organisations outside the partnership to find, access and reuse the materials.
Partnership concept
RightNow ehf of Iceland was the applicant organisation and coordinator. Partners from Portugal, Ireland, Finland, Cyprus and Bulgaria contributed to developing, testing and disseminating the approach across different European VET contexts.
In essence, XCAPE combined digital learning, authentic challenges and European cooperation to make vocational learning more engaging, transferable and relevant to changing workplaces.
