SCOPE: skills recognition, capacity building and professional education for the voluntary sector

SCVO has developed an e-learning platform for small voluntary sector organisations. Known as SCOPE, this exciting project is funded by ERASMUS+, the European Commission’s programme for education, training, youth and sport.

We worked with European partners from Ireland, Finland, Latvia and Estonia, to develop five modules which cover the following key topics:

• Governance Basics
• Financial Basics
• Fundraising Basics
• Communications Basics
• Risk Management Basics

Visit the SCOPE website to start learning.

Modules provide entry level information and learning on important matters related to running a voluntary sector organisation. One of the goals of SCOPE is to build organisational capacity and provide a quality training offering to small organisations that may face economic or geographic barriers to accessing traditional face-to-face training.

We ran two pilot phases in Scotland between November 2019 and Early May 2020. We were delighted with the feedback as learners found the content engaging and accessible, and the platform easy to use. They thought the modules would be good induction materials for new trustees, volunteers and staff, and could also be used by more established organisations to refresh and reassess the way they do things. Learners appreciated how they could do the training where and when it suited them, at home or at work, or even on their commute on a mobile device.

An innovative feature of the e-learning is the opportunity to gain validation through a digital badge system on completion of the modules. This lets learners share their achievements with their peers and potential employers and will be useful on social networks that focus on professional networking and career development.

SCVO and our European partners launched this free e-learning platform to all voluntary organisations across Scotland (and across Europe too!) in September 2020..

What is SCOPE?

SCVO supported a two-year Erasmus+ project that kicked off in October 2018 with partners in Ireland, Scotland, Finland, Latvia and Estonia.

The partners are all organisations whose purpose is to provide training, support, advice, and advocacy to the third sector. The “third sector” in this case comprises community, voluntary and charitable organisations, and social enterprises. Geographical, financial, accessibility, and time restraints can make it difficult for members of the project partner organisations most affected most by social exclusion to engage in our training. Communicating skills gained through this training can also be a challenge that impedes skill recognition, job mobility and employability, particularly as many sector skills are the result of informal and non-formal learning.

This project aimed to address each of these challenges through the development of online learning content for the identified core needs of our members. This will allow us to move our training online so that we can reach more of our members in an easily accessible, time, and location flexible manner.  An online platform houses the learning content and will be a sustainable tool for each partner to continue to develop and update in line with each of our organisations’ strategic objectives for improving support, training, and digitisation in the sector.

A validation system, based on previous valorised and successful models, was developed as a means of recognising and communicating non-formal learning through the online platform.

Finally, a comprehensive guide to the approach, methodology, pilot, and results of this project was produced as a model to share with other organisations and as a foundation for further blended learning projects for the sector in each partner country.

To find out more about SCVO’s involvement in the SCOPE project, email us. You can also find out more about SCOPE on Twitter.