Third Transnational Meeting at the University of Vechta, Germany

On February 25th and 26th, project partners gathered for their third transnational meeting at the University of Vechta.

In multiple working sessions, partners made important strides in conceptionalizing the Shift Skills Competence Programme and deducing milestones to create an innovative, and adaptable competence programme that offers sustainability-driven knowledge and competencies to learners, educators, industry and local government alike.

Apart from internal discussions, partners enjoyed a field trip to the Berufsbildende Schule (vocational school) am Museumsdorf Cloppenburg (BBSaM). Over the last two years, the BBSaM and the University of Vechta have accelerated their collaboration with the aim of fostering digitization and sustainability in regional vocational education and training. The field trip’s aim was to showcase the potential of this regional collaboration for the Symbiosis project and elaborate opportunities to further integrate the BBSaM into the development of the Competence Programme.

Project Partners at the Berufsbildende Schule am Museumsdorf Cloppenburg

During the visit, the BSSaM presented their newly launched MakerSpace which boasts various future technologies such as artificial intelligence, robotics, 3D-printers and many more that can now be integrated into vocational education and training. In addition, partners received the opportunity to see the participants of the certificate course on sustainability management work on a simulation on circular economy. Lastly, Jonas Kröger (BBSaM) and Iris Rickhoff-Fischer (TrENDi) presented a challenge that participants of the certificate course on sustainability management successfully carried out as part of the VISKI Education project (https://www.viski-project.eu/about). The challenge consisted of developing sustainability strategies, so-called R-strategies, and presenting them in an appealing way by using the resources of the MakerSpace. Partners agreed that the VISKIO platform has a high potential to promote transversal skills through digital, challenge-based learning. The successful challenge illustrates that VISKIO needs to become part of the Shift Skills Competence Programme’s toolbox.