The project was implemented through a structured work plan consisting of six interlinked work packages, with leadership responsibilities distributed among the partners to promote shared ownership and capacity building. All partners contributed actively to all work packages, ensuring strong integration of international perspectives and local contexts.
Key activities focused on developing advanced conceptual and methodological approaches to researching learning across formal education and workplace settings, with particular attention to learner agency and participation in authentic work environments. SES researchers became more deeply embedded in leading European research communities, especially within the European Association for Research on Learning and Instruction (EARLI) and its Special Interest Groups, as well as the European Educational Research Association (EERA). Joint symposia, workshops and conference presentations significantly strengthened SES’s international research visibility.
The project placed strong emphasis on interdisciplinary and cross-sectoral collaboration, involving professionals from vocational and non-vocational contexts. Empirical research activities generated new insights into learning content and formats in general education and highlighted the role of formal, non-formal and informal learning as interconnected dimensions of students’ learning pathways.
Early-stage researcher capacity building was embedded as a transversal element across all activities. ESRs were actively involved in data collection, analysis and dissemination, and participated in dedicated international training events and workshops organised in cooperation with partner institutions. This supported the development of advanced methodological competences, research independence and long-term academic sustainability.
In parallel, the project strengthened SES’s international profile through researcher mobility, joint publications, and the preparation of a special issue of the journal Social Sciences (2025), which positioned FEWL themes within international scholarly debates. RMA capacity was enhanced through systematic exchange of good practices with partner universities, study visits and joint preparation of international funding proposals, including an ERC Synergy Grant application. Several other applications were prepared, and the Erasmus+ WISH project is funded.
