Vocational Education for Digital Transformation in Horticulture

<< Background >>Many technological tools for the automated control and for the implementation of precision horticulture in greenhouses are available today, but the number of trained workers who can operate these tools is still small.Vocational training and sometimes even higher education can only respond to these challenges with a time lag of several years, while technological change is taking place at an exponential pace.No training material on smart greenhouse technologies has been available in the project partner countries, neither at secondary nor at tertiary level. The partnership has addressed this gap area and, among other results, the project has produced training material on smart greenhouse technologies in the form of an online course and an e-book, which the professional partners have jointly produced. The training material was pilot-tested in three national languages in all three partner countries, and the English-language course was tested by foreign students from the Hungarian and Romanian university partners.<< Objectives >>The objective of the project is to contribute to the digital and green transition of agriculture by delivering innovative, high quality learning materials for VET teachers on smart greenhouses.The objectives of the project included:•identifying digital skills needs for smart greenhouses in collaboration with companies to address future skills needs•create and disseminate flexible, modular and learner-centred training material that will enable vocational schools to provide a rapid and relevant response to labour market needs in the agricultural sector.•promote technical and digital skills and effective, innovative training methods for agricultural teachers, facilitating learning to teach in a virtual environment and providing up-to-date knowledge on smart greenhouses.Target group: VET Teachers and trainers in the agricultural sector.Beneficiaries: •Vocational students studying for a horticultural vocational qualification (IVET/CVET).•VET providers and horticultural enterprises, farmers, rural advisorsPartner countries: Hungary, Romania, Serbia<< Implementation >>Five results were designed (the main results in 4 European languages, HU, RO, SRB, EN), all of which were implemented during the project with the partial products within each result. Other planned activities such as multiplier events, dissemination activities, partner meetings were also fully implemented.<< Results >>R1: DIGITAL COMPETENCE MAP• T1 Online collaboration platform (https://h40.itstudy.hu/)• T2 Database of Smart Greenhouses’ technologies (https://h40.itstudy.hu/en/technologies)• T3 Digital Competence Map for future workers in smart greenhousesR2: SMART GREENHOUSES CURRICULUM• T1: Research design for the needs-analysis• T2: Data collection, analysing, conclusions• T3: Smart Greenhouse Curriculum (EN, HU, RO, SR)R3: SMART GREENHOUSES – LEARNING CONTENT• T1: Refining the modules and topics aligned with the Curriculum• T2: Authoring, proofreading EN• T3: Translating the contents into national languagesR4: E-LEARNING PLATFORM ONLINE COURSE FOR VET TEACHERS• T1: Platform: https://course.h40.itstudy.hu/• T2: Course components• T3: Training guides (mentors, students)• T4: Testing and refining the online course – Pilot coursesR5: SMART GREENHOUSES E-BOOK FOR VET TEACHERS AND TRAINERS • T1 Collecting and editing case studies • T2 Authoring, proofreading and editing the e-book in English • T3 Translation, localisation, proofreading and editing the national versions • T4 Planning sustainability of the project results