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Educate2Innovate
Start date: Sep 1, 2015, End date: Aug 31, 2018 PROJECT  FINISHED 

Under the Europe 2020 strategy, Europe is transitioning towards a low-carbon economy. The construction sector plays an important role with regard to its priorities concerning smart growth, with respect to investments in education, research and innovation, to sustainable growth with respect to energy consumption and emissions and to inclusive growth, which focuses on job creation and poverty reduction. Currently, however, there is often a skills mismatch observed between VET programme contents and industry needs with the results that qualifications do not secure jobs and proper job creation. In Educate2Innovate, a transnational consortium of VET focusing organisations in the Netherlands, Germany and Sweden will develop and implement a new curriculum that responds to the needs of the market by addressing new technologies and innovative educational methods. By offering up-to-date knowledge about sustainable building technologies, VET students will be properly educated and prepared for entry-level jobs in construction firms. They will then bring along new knowledge and implement them on the spot, instead of falling back on traditional, out-of-date knowledge. This project will be focusing on thorough and continuous interaction between all sides of the knowledge triangle. Research organisation will be able to introduce newly invented developments and technologies into VET curricula, making it possible to valorise their knowledge into real-world practices. Innovation focused organisation within the construction sector can use the curriculum as a platform for introducing their experience-based knowledge about sustainable solutions. Education organisations can bring all practical and theoretical knowledge together and introduce and develop innovative learning methods. The objectives of this project is to introduce a new way of teaching and learning in VET that is in line with educational developments, market needs and VET students’ interests. It offers a unique combination of traditional learning methods, physical mobility and virtual mobility by means of e-learning modules and introduction of massive open online courses. In close cooperation with education and research organisations (higher education), construction firms can help build VET programmes and hence reduce skills mismatches. In order to making this new curriculum sustainable, accreditation will be actively pursued, because this new curriculum will have national, transnational and European impact and will mean a difference in VET. Two activities and four intellectual outputs will be developed, which together will form the new curriculum. The project will focus on blended mobility of VET students and on short-term joint staff training events. Exchange events will be organised on a national and transnational level for VET students but also between researchers/teachers/trainers for it is they who must be able to share knowledge and bring educational innovation into practice. As for this, observation, teaching skills must be developed alongside innovation labour-related skills. The curriculum itself will be built around a framework in which e-learning modules can be inserted (to be developed by the consortium) and a massive open online course which will open up basic knowledge about sustainable construction, making entry-level learning possible for anyone interested and giving attention to sustainable building on a wider scale. This project will focus on 1500 participants in VET organisations in the Netherlands, Germany and Sweden. With introducing a new curriculum by modern, innovative methods, skills mismatches will be reduced. Even new skills can be developed because of the interaction of organisations from different sectors. This will lead to a flexible European construction sector that has skilled and capable employees. These VET trained employees are and stay up-to-date with regard to new inventions in the field of sustainable building solutions and are able to implement them skilfully during every day work. In order to increase attention and to inform the markets about this promising development, a multiplier event will be organised in Germany. At the end of this project, the consortium wants to have obtained the necessary accreditations from the various countries in order to further develop and rollout the curriculum to other VET organisations.
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