The Placements in Environmental, Archaeological and Traditional Skills project (PEATS) brings together a consortium of 11 UK VET colleges and training institutions led by Grampus Heritage and Training Ltd. The project will provide 181 vocational students & apprentices in these subjects with inspiring and educational 4-week work placements with our partnership of 20 experienced European host partners in 13 countries. The project also offers 64 VET tutors the opportunity to undertake 8-day staff training visits to European host partners, to learn from their training methods, share experience and form lasting mutually beneficial partnerships. The project will fund 4-week placements for 47 environmental students, 79 archaeology students and 55 craft students. 27 Accompanying persons from the consortium will ensure that each flow of VET learners is visited, supported and monitored to ensure safeguarding, maximum impact and realistic and comprehensive evaluation of placement outcomes.This application benefits from over 12 years of promoting environmental, archaeological and traditional skills and craft placements through the Leonardo da Vinci programme. This application and consortium combines the experience of delivering five certified LdV projects per year between 2009 and 2013 which provided European placements for a total of 1180 participants in environmental, archaeological and traditional craft skills. (mobility certificate UK/09/LLP-LdV/MC/Z007). The PEATS project further builds on the successful 2014 Erasmus+ ‘PETS’ consortium project (2014-1-UK01-KA10200265).Host countries represented in the consortium are Slovakia, Romania, Germany, Czech Republic, Cyprus, Slovenia, Iceland, Portugal, Italy, Bulgaria, Finland, Ireland and Turkey.VET participants will all be accredited through the Green Village Sustainable Rural Development (SRD) ECVET curriculum, developed through the EU ‘Green Village’ DOI project. All VET participants will also be accredited through Europass. They will be recruited from consortium colleges and students undertaking SRD modules at Grampus Heritage. The ECVET accreditation will assist in parallel UK accreditation within their own courses of study in the UK (e.g through work placement modules) and through the archaeology skills passport. They will develop a higher degree of self confidence, put theory into practice, gain new skills, improve existing skills and competencies, inspire a renewed interest in their chosen subject, gain new language skills and complete a CV enhancing placement which will improve employment prospects and/or enable an informed progression to higher level study.Participating staff will benefit from placing their own training in a wider European context. Travelling tutors will not only explore new skills, methods, approaches and techniques but will also share their own experiences with host organisations. This will give staff access to new ideas and approaches to training which will have a positive impact on their own delivery. The objectives of the project are to: 1 Provide a period of ‘real work’ experience for beneficiaries studying environmental, archaeological and craft courses in the UK at VET level. 2. To ensure that this period of European experience is of relevance to the participant’s course of study and can be accredited as such. 3. To increase cultural awareness in beneficiaries. 4. To increase competencies in key skills being used on the placement. These include:Environmental Skills: planting, coppicing, footpath design and construction, biodiversity assessments and species identification, habitat management.Archaeological Skills: Excavation techniques, site recording (planning, photography, context sheets), surveying (levelling/total station), post excavation finds processing.Craft Skills: weaving, embroidery, silversmithing, blacksmithing, ceramics, wood carving, green wood construction, traditional building techniques (natural materials), 5. To boost the skills and employability of our primarily young participants through gaining real-work experience and laying the foundation for language skills 6. To enhance UK VET training provision for young people by providing 8-day staff placements for tutors with relevant European hosts.The project management methodology for the PETS consortium is consistent with the ten principles set out in in the European Quality Charter for Mobility.Host partners provide a minimum of four language lessons with professional tuition. All staff mobilities are recognised within an agreed CPD plan with their own organisations. Host partners also provide certification and a record of achievement in their own format as additional evidence of achievement.Detailed learning agreements are drawn up prior to placement through discussion between participants, hosts and UK colleges. These provide a realistic benchmark against which the success of the project and placements will be evaluated.