CONTINUITY: Business Continuity Managers Training Platform

COVID-19 had a significant impact on businesses and the economy. Nationwide lockdowns resulted in the halting of economic activities, and the urgent need for resilience in both business and societ...

The general objective of CONTINUITY was to create an appropriate VET, horizontal to all sectors and independent from the geographical and political context, intrinsically transnational, able to train the BC Manager as a professional figure with an in-depth knowledge of BC issues and related governance frameworks, best-practices, and protocols. The specific objectives were: • Promotion of cooperation between EU organizations and training providers within the BC environment, creating a network for the development of mobility, education, or innovation projects in this field. • Learning about local or international education, and developing BC management programs focused on the acquisition of new professional skills and competencies through the combination of informal and non-formal methods and the use of ICT • Improvement of the quality and relevance of training provision by developing new innovative approaches and disseminating these competencies best practices. • Promotion of provision and assessment of key competences for those responsible for BC, including basic and transversal skills such as project management and European funding programs.

The structure of the project was planned meticulously to ensure a clear and logical link between all activities within the Results, guaranteeing the achievement of the set objectives in a timely and economical manner and with high quality standards. Moreover, although it was promoted by a heterogeneous and experienced consortium, which involved other stakeholders from the beginning, the Results were developed with and for end users. The global structure of CONTINUITY was constituted of 3 Results, defined in a series of support actions to ensure the achievement of the general objective of the project: the creation of an appropriate VET, horizontal to all sectors and independent from the geographical and political context, intrinsically transnational, able to train the BC Manager, as a professional figure able to have an in-depth knowledge of BC issues and related governance frameworks, best-practices and protocols and operational risk management. R1, Preliminary Evaluation – Blueprint, was the first and fundamental step of the project: this step laid the foundations and indicated the direction for the creation of the rest of the Result through a mapping of the general framework, in addition to the creation of a baseline for the final impact assessment. R2, Modules Creation - The course programme offered an exclusive expedition to key BC areas. 5 modules were created, with the input from R1: Organizational Resilience, Business Continuity, Crisis Management, Supply Chain Resilience, Cyber Resilience. Engagement with the subject discipline was only one element of a bigger picture: the modules specifically addressed learners’ understanding, development and evidencing of a range of academic, personal and professional skills. Both academia and business staff were involved into the module’s creation, to provide a comprehensive teaching package. R3 was carried out in parallel: this Result laid out the first versions of the contents of the Online Training Platform, the practice, the Workshops and the technical interface was created: here were developed the contents that fed the achievement of the first 3 specific objectives mentioned above (Promote cooperation between EU organisations and training providers within the BC environment, Learning about local or international education and process continuity management support programmes and improve the quality and relevance of training provision by developing new innovative approaches and disseminating 'best practices' of these competences). R3.4 macro-phase, instead, as testing phases, contributed to the achievement of the fourth specific objective: promote provision and assessment of key competences for those responsible for BC, including basic and transversal skills such as project management and European funding programmes. The above steps, together with the remaining activities of content and impact review, ensured that the Result of the project created the results mentioned in the other sections. The multiplier events had the task of disseminating the knowledge and results of this project, as well as activating the 'ignition' for the sought-after replication effects. Another fundamental activity of this project was the Transantional Training Course for Coach - C1, which fed the achievement of the priority VET: Developing partnerships aimed at promoting work-based learning in all its forms. One of the key innovative components of the CONTINUITY project referred to the participatory and collaborative methodological approach in which not only the consortium, but also the project activities and results were built. An experienced and very dynamic partnership reflected and inspired new, consolidated and sustainable links, schemes, and cooperation actions among the key actors of the CONTINUITY ecosystem, encouraging the creation of a wide and varied network, which surgically captured the specific needs of the target groups to which this project was addressed.

In addition to the Results of CONTINUITY and the impact on its target group, other tangible results have been obtained during the implementation: • Website: In addition to the Online Training Platform and its linguistic versions, the project offered a website open to all those who wished to learn more. It contained: o Project and calendar information o Partner associations o Erasmus+ and VET opportunities o Direct access to the online learning tool o Visibility of materials o Links to social networks o Forums and chats o Logos of Erasmus+ and partners •Dissemination: Implemented at national and transnational levels by all partners, including press notes and materials, online sites, social networks, info packs, etc. These materials were designed around the project image and logo created during the preparation period, helping to identify project results and link them with CONTINUITY, the entities involved, and the Erasmus+ program. • Minutes of the transnational meeting: Drafted to track the work done, record participants, transcribe completed agreements and the common agenda defined. Used to resolve misunderstandings and update remaining members who did not attend on what has been done. • Models and justification materials: Budget calculation, payment and time sheets, evaluation forms, attendance lists and certificates, etc., created by UNIVPM (IT) in accordance with Erasmus+ guidelines and the requirements of the Italian National Programme Agency. These documents were distributed to monitor, manage, and justify the project. • Learning Certificate: Designed to recognize the competences and skills acquired by those who successfully completed the training process offered through the Platform, local Workshops, and coaching service (R3.4). It contained personal data of participants, training hours, content, partners, information about the project and the Erasmus+ program, and location of activities. • Guide for Coach: Result of the Transnational Training Course for Coach (C1) used to enable professionals to support testers of the CONTINUITY Platform. All activities, methodologies, contents, practices, and peer learning transferred during this transnational mobility were written in a PDF guide published after the event. • Workshop Toolkit: One of the C1 outcomes provided to those responsible for implementing local project workshops (R3.4.2) in each country. Created under the responsibility of UPV (ES), this product contained guidelines, materials, methodologies, and advice for facilitators. These materials were uploaded to the website and the Platform to ensure effective transfer of project results to communities and countries. The results related to the use of the project's Results (Coach's Guide, Workshop Toolkit) were also translated at the end of CONTINUITY into the project languages (R3.6).