On Wednesday 21^st of September 2022 the partners [1] of One Block for Educational Credentials (OBEC) European project met in Brussels for the final Transnational Project meeting, drawing the final conclusions about the project and trying to understand what was learnt during the two years of research and testing. In general, the partnership was happy with the results achieved and had a positive attitude towards the bright future of Blockchain technologies applied to education.

Among the lessons learnt, one stood out as extremely important: communication is key!

The members of OBEC carried out numerous interviews with laymen/women and experts. Many (66%) of the interviewees of the former group reported that they had issues getting recognition for the skills/competences they possess; issues which could have been partially solved by employing tools and policies made available by the European Union (EU). At the same time, individuals from the latter group reported, among the various potential issues, that Blockchain technologies are poorly perceived by society and this causes difficulties in applying them as problem-solvers.

Both issues seem to have a common solution: disseminate knowledge about technologies. By improving the comprehension society has about technological solutions (especially involving Blockchain technologies), individuals have the possibility of becoming more independent and are able to apply those solutions to their daily problems.

Those findings prompted the partnership to apply a wider dissemination strategy. Information regarding the major tools and protocols developed by the EU started to be included in all reports to allow stakeholders to understand which facilitators they have at their disposal to solve their issues in skills/competences recognition and transfer. Moreover, the partnership organised different multiplier events throughout Europe to help the target groups of the project to understand Blockchain technologies better.

This last aspect of the dissemination strategy had a dual aim: decrease the ties between Blockchain technologies and cryptocurrencies and improve the understanding of the benefits tied to the use of those technologies for the recognition of skills/competences. The eventual success of such strategy was thought to have a major effect: push individuals to use those Blockchain technologies to get recognition for their skills/competences without being misled into thinking that those technologies are only financial tools and, moreover, by understanding how they could allow them to get a better control over their professional profiles.

After completing the multiplier events, the OBEC partnership was pleased to notice that the chosen communication strategy proved successful. Many of the participants at the events reported positive feedbacks and claimed to have gained a better and deeper understanding of Blockchain technologies. Furthermore, during the last transnational project meeting, all the partners appreciated the learning journey and they gained important insights and experience into the field of competence recognition, as well as the potential uses of Blockchain technologies.

With this added experience, they are now in a position to improve the quality of the services they offer to various individuals.

Overall, a successful ending of the project.

[1] SwIdeas; The University of Urbino; Lai-Momo; SiMoRa; Eurada.