The project stems from the need to investigate and coordinate the roles andcompetences of teachers in Europe (as mentioned in the Lisbon guidelines), at thelevels of both initial and in-service teacher training. The participants in the project areinstitutions which provide initial and/or continuing teacher training. All of them playimportant roles in their countries/regions as the educators of future teachers or theinnovators of in-service training and are aware of the necessity to adapt the teachingpractice to the requirements of modern diversified society and to invent a way of helpingteachers to “cope” in the modern classroom.The partners are planning to identify both the existing and the needed competences ofteachers with the aid of a research carried out in their countries. The collected data willthen serve as a foundation for developing a pilot course in key teacher competences(different language versions) taking into account multicultural classrooms and diversityin Europe, to be run and tested in the institutions involved. The pilot course and its directapplicability to teaching practice will be systematically evaluated in its different phases,by the learners (via self-reflection on their performance of tasks) as well as the trainersand potential observers, to ensure development and improvement of the course.Drawing from that experience, the partners will then elaborate the second version of thecourse to be run again, at which stage other interested teacher training institutions canget involved for the sake of disseminating and promoting the results. An extension of theproject is envisaged in order to develop Comenius courses based on the results of theproject and to plan mobility for the target groups.Different materials will be produced for the diffusion of the project, such as handbooks,booklets, and electronic learning/communication environment (which will also be usedby both the project partners and the pilot course participants throughout the 2-yearlifetime of the project).