Antwerp · Belgium

A Learning Week for education professionals

The StageAnker Learning Week is a five-day international professional learning experience in Antwerp. It is designed for teachers, trainers, coordinators, mentors, school leaders and other education professionals working in vocational education and training (VET), Adult Education or career-oriented secondary education.

StageAnker’s core expertise is vocational and work-based learning. The Learning Weeks are also relevant to professionals whose work connects with practical learning, inclusion, learner wellbeing, transition to work or related educational challenges.

The programme is intended for professionals working with older secondary learners and adults. It is not aimed at primary education or younger pupils.

This is not a mobility programme for students. The focus is on education professionals: learning from one another, exploring new approaches and returning home with a practical plan for their own school or organisation.

Why Antwerp?

Antwerp is part of the learning environment. Its international character, diverse population, educational landscape, cultural institutions and compact city centre offer opportunities to connect professional questions with real places, people and organisations.

This is not a week of sitting in a classroom. Participants step out of their daily routine, meet European colleagues and discover how another city and educational context can open new perspectives.

At a glance

Dates

7–11 December 2026
3–7 May 2027

Location

Antwerp, Belgium

Duration

5 days · 25 hours

Course fee

€400 per participant · team offer available

Main audience

Professionals in VET, Adult Education and career-oriented secondary education

After the week

Certificate of participation + a practical Improvement Plan

From challenge to Improvement Plan

Creativity, Design Thinking and structured problem-solving are used as practical tools rather than separate theoretical subjects.

Starting from a concrete challenge in their own educational practice, participants explore different perspectives, exchange experiences with international colleagues and develop possible solutions.

By the end of the Learning Week, each participant will have created a first practical Improvement Plan to take forward within their own organisation. The process is adapted to the professional backgrounds, expertise and challenges that participants bring to the international group.

Learning themes

The Learning Week is not a series of separate workshops or training sessions on the themes below. They reflect the educational contexts and challenges that participants may bring to the group and provide a starting point for exchange and the Improvement Plan.

• Work-based learning and internship guidance
• Inclusive VET and Adult Education; supporting learners with diverse and specific educational needs
• Multilingual and newcomer learners; social-emotional learning and learner wellbeing
• Innovative teaching and learning practices; connecting education, work and society

A European professional learning community

The international group is a central part of the week. Participants bring different professional experiences, education systems and local realities. Comparing these perspectives helps them question familiar routines and discover adaptable alternatives.

Participants are knowledge carriers as well as learners. The aim is not to present one ‘best’ education system, but to exchange practices, test ideas, reflect and build useful European contacts.

The atmosphere is professional and welcoming, with space for curiosity, new energy and conversations that are difficult to organise during an ordinary working week.

Impact after Antwerp

Participants leave with more than notes and inspiration. Their first Improvement Plan identifies a realistic next step that can be further developed and implemented in their own professional context.

Schools and organisations can send colleagues as a team. Shared experiences and a common language make it easier to continue developing ideas after returning home.

Participation can also be repeated in later years with other colleagues, gradually spreading European contacts, new practices and a positive professional learning mindset across the organisation.

How the Learning Week works

• Creative Collaboration in Action to connect the group and activate participants’ expertise
• Professional exchange between participants from different countries
• Creativity, Design Thinking and structured problem-solving as practical tools
• Field learning, visits or encounters in Antwerp where relevant and possible
• Reflection and translation to each participant’s own professional context
• Development of a practical Improvement Plan

The exact programme is adapted to the group. Activities, visits and encounters may vary according to participants’ professional interests and challenges, as well as local availability.

Who can take part?

The Learning Weeks are especially relevant for:

• teachers and trainers in vocational education and training (VET)
• professionals working with older secondary learners in practical or career-oriented pathways
• Adult Education teachers and trainers, especially in vocational or employment-related learning
• mentors, learner support staff and inclusion professionals
• Erasmus+ and international coordinators
• school leaders, team leaders and pedagogical coordinators
• other professionals whose work connects education, practical learning and transition to work

Participants do not need to work in the same subject area. The diversity of the group is part of the learning experience.

Can Erasmus+ help pay for participation?

In many cases, yes. Erasmus+ funding can support education professionals taking part in learning activities in another European country. The StageAnker Learning Week is designed as a five-day, 25-hour staff learning activity.

Depending on the participant’s organisation and role, one of these Erasmus+ education sectors may be relevant:

• Vocational education and training (VET) – education and training connected with a profession or trade.
• Adult Education (ADU) – learning for adults outside the regular school system.
• School Education (SCH) – potentially relevant for staff working with older secondary learners in career-oriented education. StageAnker does not focus on primary education or younger pupils.

New to Erasmus+? Start here

Your organisation does not need previous Erasmus+ experience. Contact the Erasmus+ National Agency in your country to ask whether funding is available, which application fits your situation and when you need to apply.

Names such as KA122-VET, KA122-ADU or KA122-SCH refer to short-term Erasmus+ projects in different education sectors. You do not need to understand these codes before contacting StageAnker or your National Agency.

If your organisation already has Erasmus+ accreditation, ask your Erasmus+ coordinator whether the available funding can be used for this Learning Week.

The course fee is €400 per participant and includes a certificate of participation. Travel and accommodation are separate but may also be eligible for Erasmus+ funding, depending on your project and national rules.

In simple terms

Already working with Erasmus+? Ask your coordinator whether current funding can cover participation.

New to Erasmus+? Contact your National Agency and explain that you want to send education staff to Belgium for a five-day professional learning activity.

Unsure whether your organisation belongs to VET, Adult Education or School Education? Your National Agency can identify the correct sector.

Erasmus+ terminology should not stop you from getting in touch. StageAnker welcomes enquiries from organisations with and without previous Erasmus+ experience.

Upcoming editions

 

7–11 December 2026

A winter edition combining professional learning, European exchange and learning in Antwerp.

3–7 May 2027

A spring edition built around the same core approach, with activities adapted to the participants and opportunities available in Antwerp.