The Course for Adventure Related Vocational Educators (CARVE) provides staff and learners from the outdoor education and outdoor adventure sector in Ireland with work placement opportunities in the outdoor industry in UK, scotland, Wales,France, Spain and Greece. Our CARVE program developed from several work placement programs we delivered for the sector under the Leonardo Da Vinci aspect of the lifelong learning program. Our goal as an organisation is to develop European VET work placement programs for staff and learners/graduates, from the Irish Outdoor Education and Adventure sector that make lifelong learning and mobility within the sector a reality for our learners. We promote equity; social cohesion and active citizenship by enabling our participants acquire and develop new skills and competencies needed for their employability. Our placements foster further learning, active citizenship and intercultural dialogue. Within the CARVE program there are a number of placements for staff currently working in the sector and recent graduates from vocational training programs that qualified them as outdoor activity instructors. Over the coming year our placements for staff are aimed at providing them with the skills, knowledge and competencies required to improve the standards of the sector in Ireland. Our first Erasmus + staff placement in Sept/Oct 2014 is a two week placement with Action Outdoors in Chamonix aimed at providing staff with the knowledge, skills and competencies to effectively build and manage a group adventure experience in the Alps. Placement 2 is a 28 day program for 12 staff in UCPA ski/boarding centres.Placement 3 for Staff is a 58 Day placement in Club Mistral windsurfing Centres in the Canary Islands. Flow 1 (3 participants) taking place in Sept/October 2015 and Flow 2 (3 participants) in March/April 2016. These placements provide a group of VET Windsurfing instructors from different Adventure Centres in Ireland with work placements in Club Mistral centres in Spain. Participants experience, observe and learn additional techniques and systems that enhance the service they deliver in their workplaces in Ireland. They will be scheduled to work in a number of areas including instruction, equipment maintenance and distribution. They will shadow instructors and sit in on briefings. Their work schedule will be agreed with the participants and each centre manager and a roster for each participant generated prior to the work placement beginning. The program will also improve language skills and technical sporting skills. This program is a continuation of 8 previous incredibly successful placements for VET windsurfing staff in 2013/2014 & Spring2015. Placement 4 for Staff is a 8 day experience for 16 staff from mountain biking centres. They experience, observe and learn additional techniques and systems that enhance the service they deliver in their workplaces in Ireland. They will be scheduled to work in a number of areas including instruction, equipment maintenance and distribution. They will shadow instructors and sit in on briefings. Their work schedule will be agreed with the participants and each centre manager and a roster for each participant generated prior to the work placement beginning. This placement provides staff with the knowledge, skills and competencies required to modernise and internationalise their VET workplace upon their return. Placement 5 for Staff is a 14 day experience for 12 staff from Irish Sea Kayaking centres to Cornwall. They will experience, observe and learn additional techniques and systems that enhance the service they deliver in Ireland as well as attain membership of the International Sea kayak guides association. Our Learner/recent graduate placements are a 60 day placement for recently graduated learner from a FETAC Level 5 Outdoor Activity Award. We are seeking through our placements to improve the level of key competences and skills within the Active Leisure/ Outdoor Education and Adventure industry, with particular regard to their relevance for the labour market and participant’s contribution to a cohesive society. We will be providing the sector with increased opportunities for learning mobility and through strengthened cooperation between the world of education and training and the world of work. We foster quality improvements, innovation excellence and internationalisation at the level of education and training institutions, in particular through enhanced transnational cooperation between education and training providers and other stakeholders. We enhance the international dimension of education and training, in particular through cooperation between programme and partner-country institutions in the field of VET through the promotion of mobility. Our placements also improve the teaching and learning of languages and to promote the EU’s broad linguistic diversity and inter cultural awareness.