The MUGIGAIN cross-border project : « Mobility across borders »

August 2020

Conseil économique, social et environnemental régional (CESER)

Faced with the rise in chronic diseases and the ageing of the population, the need for health care professionals is constantly increasing. This need is particularly acute in the North Basque Country. In order to meet these new needs, the New Aquitaine region, the Basque Autonomous Community and Navarre have decided to pool their skills within the framework of the Mugigain project. The aim of the project is to develop a nursing assistant profile in the Euroregion by promoting the mobility of future professionals and their integration into this territory.

The MUGIGAIN project is a good example of an initiative that responds both to a challenge shared by New Aquitaine and its neighbours in the Euroregion (the increasing need for health and care for the elderly in a context of an ageing population), and to the concrete needs identified in the cross-border territory:

At the initiative of the project, the Institut de Formation des Aides-Soignants (IFAS) and its partners have conceived MUGIGAIN as a cross-border community of practice in learning and vocational training of excellence.

Its objectives :

Given its contribution to these objectives, and although defined as a micro-project, MUGIGAIN is no more and no less part of an effort to build a cross-border social policy in the field of health.

Mobility on the cross-border territory and the pooling of human resources (future care assistants) are therefore the pillars of a working method designed to meet the needs of today and tomorrow.

It was organised in three phases :

The project method includes :

Despite a detailed knowledge of the territories, the profession and the needs, the difficulties in obtaining funds threatened the viability of the project by affecting the partnership relationship. The validation and recognition of learning outcomes is another obstacle, which the project is trying to overcome by considering the European ECVET system and the creation of « visas » allowing access to training, obtaining diplomas on both sides of the border and exportable work permits.

This experience, very much rooted in the cross-border reality, is rich in learning that can be used elsewhere. The interest it arouses and its « reproducible » nature make it a resource for other territories of New Aquitaine: « the needs of elderly people are the same, regardless of the side of the border », regardless of the territories…

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