Vocational and Education Training programmes can play a central role in preparing students for work and responding to labour market needs, representing a smart and sustainable response to economic crisis and to decrease unemployment, especially for the wood and furniture manufacturing sector that is important for most of European countries WOODUAL project aims at building up a strong and continuative partnership among different stakeholders active in the manufacturing and furniture sector and experts in education and training issues in order to update and improve the current professional profiles in wood and furniture sector answering to the current skills gaps. At the same time, the project will elaborate guidelines and new methodologies in order to open the road for a more extensive use of dual learning system. The target group to whom the project is addressed are students in vocational training path and young workers in wood and furniture sector. The project will contribute to adapt curriculum and qualification profiles by investigating the technological and soft skills gap in the professional profiles for the Wood Treaters, Cabinet Makers and related Trade Workers, increasing organizational, social, emotional, entrepreneurial and technological skills and competences in VET students and workers. A cooperation framework between different stakeholders (especially enterprises/employers and VET institutions) will be tested to define integrated transnational dual learning models: one model would not fit every situation, but a core concept can be proposed, accompanied by a “modelling engine” to support adaptation to several sectors and countries. The project is expected to produce an increased cooperation and dialogue between VET institutions and experts, companies and policy makers and institutional actors, a shaped knowledge and vision on qualifications and training process in the wood and forniture sector, an institutionalized and effective partnership and transferable framework applied to wood and furniture sector to be transferred and adapted to other important sectors in which dual learning is significant and represents an added value. Finally the project is expected to produce an effective strategy supporting a better school to work transition and facilitating young people entering in European labour market, improving their competences, qualifications and mobility across Europe. The first part of the project deals with a comparative and systematic analysis of the state of the art regarding the training and professional profiles in wood and furniture sector. Desk research and qualitative methodology (semi-structured interviews) will be adopted and two different report and studies will be carried out: study and analysis on labour market trends in wood and furniture sector and companies needs and study and analysis on professional qualifications and learning system in the wood and furniture sector It is foreseen to create a WOODUAL Community with a double purpose: it aims at creating a community of stakeholder in wood and furniture sector being and at the same time it will become a key reference point for all the stakeholder coming from other sectors interested in dual system learning path. The core activity of the project concerns the creation and experimentation of the newly design framework for international dual system in work-based programmes. This phase of the project is crucial and challenging as it requests a deep analysis to overcome the current situation of scarce use of work-based training. The aim is to create a new and international model for dual learning system requesting the involvement of all the stakeholders interested to the process, especially VET institutions and employers. The model will be designed on wood and furniture needs and experiences and, even though it is clear that one model would not fit every situation, a core concept can be proposed, modeled and contextualized in order to be adaptable to various sectors, countries and type of education. The model will be tested through the involvement of 40 VET students and young workers during the testing phase and national implementation plan will be created in order to adapt the model to national contexts The handbook for VET students and skilled manual workers and the training courses will be developed as a result of the public methodological guide on the newly designed framework. The evaluation of the project will be done by policy makers coming from European regions which will contribute also to allow a better dissemination and exploitation of the project results WOODUAL project wants to be just the first step of a European joint effort to handle high youth unemployment rates through a common learning-training-working reference. The intent here is to create an impact that will last beyond the end of this project by making the research and the developed model available also for those coming from different sectors