EuRopean Centers for scalling Up VET Learning Excellences in Sales

The ERCULES project is a European collaboration aimed at strengthening education and skills within the field of sales. The project is based on a challenge where the skills demanded by companies do not sufficiently match what vocational education and training as well as higher education currently provide. To address this, the project is working to establish so-called Centres of Vocational Excellence (CoVEs), where educational institutions, companies, and other stakeholders collaborate to develop more practice-oriented and future-proof learning pathways.

ERCULES focuses on integrating education and the labor market more closely through innovative teaching methods, the use of artificial intelligence, and the joint development of new competence profiles within sales. The project also places a strong emphasis on upskilling and reskilling students, employees, and job seekers, as well as on making the sales profession more attractive - among other things by promoting gender equality and encouraging more women to enter the field.

In addition, digital learning resources are being developed, along with collaborations between educational institutions and businesses, and international activities such as summer courses for educators. Overall, the project aims to create a flexible and modern education system that can adapt to labor market needs and support lifelong learning across Europe.

ERCULES is coordinated by UNIVPM and supported by a transnational consortium consisting of 13 partners, including universities, vocational education and training (VET) institutions, and companies from six countries (Italy, France, Denmark, Germany, Austria, and Poland).

The ERCULES project is a European collaboration aimed at improving education in sales and making it more relevant to real labor market needs. The background is that there is currently a gap between the skills companies require and what is taught in educational programs.

To address this, the project will establish strong learning environments (called CoVEs), where schools, universities, and companies work closely together. The goal is to develop new ways of teaching, including the use of modern technologies such as artificial intelligence and by working with real-life business cases.

The project also focuses on helping students, employees, and job seekers acquire new skills or update the ones they already have. At the same time, it aims to make careers in sales more attractive, especially for women, and to create more flexible and personalised ways of learning.