Q-PlaNet, the Quality Placements Network is network of Quality Reference Centres (QRC) for student placements. QRCs are offices acting at regional level for checking placement quality and promoting the mobility of students in practical training. Q-PlaNet sets up concrete standards and structures for quality assurance in order to provide students, host organisations and universities a solid an secured basis for European wide comparable placements.
We check host organisations according to the Q-PlaNet quality standard and widen the network with new regional QRCs;
We maintain links to QRC websites where regional placement offers are published;
o We continously maintain and improve the quality standards according to the stakeholder`s re-quirements in order to secure the best learning outcomes from the educational point of view and best results from the enterprises` point of view .
It is difficult to know and check placements in the host enterprise in all regions in the enlarged Eu-rope from the home university of students. To overcome this disadvantage, the idea is to connect regional quality reference centres which build the bridge between host organisations, sending in-stitutions and students, and which are assessing the quality f placements by "labelling" host organi-sations. The aim is to improve the quality of placements. A European wide network of Quality Reference Centres realises the concept of regional contact points for quality assurance of place-ments.
Q-PlaNet was initially a project funded by the EU from 2008 to 2010. It was born as sub-project of EUE-Net, the European University Enterprise network trying to boost cooperation between industry and the education sector (see www.eue-net.org). Q-PlaNet project was run by a consortium of 10 partners from Romania, Germany, Estonia, Luxembourg and Belgium - building a mixed con-sortium of universities, enterprises, networks and associations. EUE-Net also still exists and stays the "mother organisation" of Q-PlaNet, by e.g. recognising officially new QRCs in the network.