The project's core aim, Boosting European Exchange on Higher VET and Employer lnvolvement in Education Structures (BEEHiVES), will develop transferable competencies and practices that will strengthen HVET and improve cooperation between the world of education and training and the world of work. A working definition proposed and updated by the project partners states that HVET is "a study programme (EQF Ievei 5 and higher) that includes periods of work experience, work based assessment, transferable occupational skills, and significant employer involvement offered in any institution or sector". The definition of HAPHE project of PHE: "Professional Higher Education is a form of Higher Education that offers a particularly intense integration with the world of work in all its aspects, including teaching, learning, research and governance and at alllevels of the averarehing Qualifications Framework ofthe European Higher Education Area." Therefore the project team sees little difference in the terms HVET and PHE, and suggests a harmonisation of the definitions of the two. The 7 dedicated partners in the field of PHE and HVET in Europe believe that while the European Higher Education Area (EHEA) has contributed significantly to harmonisation of HE in Europe, the 'Higher' Vocational Education and Trainingsector is: 1. a 'confused policy area' in many member countries - with HVET offered in several structurally separate sectors (HE, PHE, VET, CVET) with limited permeability (vertical and horizontal) and in many countries limited progression opportunities 2. there are no detailed HVET-focussed country reports explaining the full complexity of this 'sector' and 3. limited attempts have been made to develop innovative and transferable employer engagement HVET practices and tools. Each partner has significant expertise in this field: DHBW Germany/Stuttgart - an innovative academic/technical dual university; AP Belgium Flanders/Antwerp - a PHE institution with substantial experience in WBL; TKNIKA Spain/Basque -an agency dedicated to HVET innovation and entrepreneurship; CASPHE Czech Republic and AoC England- two college and PHE representative bodies with strong policy formulation remits; EURASHE - the EC recognised European-wide body for PHE; KIC Malta- an agency dedicated to innovation and knowledge exchange. All partners have significant and extensive links with employers and employer representative bodies. The BEEHiVES project is designed to address cooperation and collaboration barriers in the strategic partnership triangle - HVET/PHE institutions, employers/labour markets and students – to contribute to the development of skills relevant to labour market needs and equip students with the knowledge and skills relevant for their long-term employability, entrepreneurship and personal development. The project reflects developments within the EHEA and will make a significant contribution to the Modernisation Agenda. BEEHiVES project partners identify and explore how HVET is organized, run and regulated in their countries/regions - both in PHE and the VET sectors - and specifically how the labour market relevance of HVET can be improved. BEEHiVES will create tools and measures that will create a fundamental step-change in terms of employer involvement in programme and curriculum design, validation, accreditation and award processes - placing employers and the needs of the labour marketat the centre of the education offer. All results will be collected in a web-based "Strategy Matrix Toolbox" that will ensure the three apexes of the strategic triangle are able to work more productively, improve student retention and increase employability post-graduation. The key outputs of the project are: • national HVET/PHE profiles of the partner countries, including an understanding of present strategic partnership characteristics; • the identification of innovative practices within the strategic partnership model; • the successful transfer of innovative HVET /PHE employer engagement practices. That will: • aceeierate the knowledge, conceptualisation and development of HVET/PHE; • improve transnational recognition of strategic partnerships and best practices; • improve coordination and collaboration amongst all HVET/PHE actors; • discover and disseminate the skills, competences and knowledge Ieveis needed by employers tobe effective actors in HVET/PHE. The project will activate employers from all company sizes to participate in the development of HVET/PHE programmes and thereby significantly improve HVET/PHE practices. The project's legacy of HVET country reports and transferable tools and practices will ensure the products ofthe project are durable and sustainable; and significantly add to the quality of HVET and HE.