Objectives
The food and catering sector is facing radical changes in Europe, with an exponential need for workers with sustainability and digital skills. SSPICE IT! project intends to increase VET teachers and learners’ awareness of the relevance of sustainability, update VET curricula by integrating green and digital skills, and increase the capacity to assess these skills; to create a long-term partnership between VET providers, research centres, businesses, and public authorities at different levels.
Implementation
The 7 partners of the SSPICE IT! project, representing the world of vocational training, research, and business of 6 different EU countries will:
• Develop a training programme on sustainability to develop green and digital skills of future operators/entrepreneurs of the food/catering sector;
• Develop a game-based career guidance and assessment tool to assess green, digital, and entrepreneurship skills;
• Create a community of practices involving key stakeholders in the food/catering sector.
Results
Outcomes of the project will be:
• Increased level of green, digital and entrepreneurship skills of VET learners in the food/catering sector;
• Increased level of awareness and green competencies of VET teachers;
• Enhanced dialogue and cooperation among VET centres and key stakeholders of the food/catering sector;
• Increased attractiveness and responsiveness of VET curricula in the food/catering sector to the labour market needs.
Definition of the target groups
To whom our project is relevant
Communication and dissemination activities will address the following target groups:
A local/regional stakeholder group
consisting of at least 20 referents, in each partner territory, among representatives of enterprises, trade associations, representatives of public authorities responsible for VET programming, research centres, and associations involved in sustainability issues.
National-level stakeholders
including professional associations and companies in the hotel and catering sector, other agencies and public authorities responsible for VET course planning, teaching communities involved in networking sustainability issues such as networks of innovation hubs/ support centres for female and youth entrepreneurship, and NGOs involved in youth training.
European level stakeholders
Networks and communities of teachers and innovators linked to the world of VET and education, such as the European Association of Vocational Institutes, of which AKMI is a member, the European Teacher Education Network (ETEN), the ETwinning teachers' community and the Network of Education on Sustainable Tourism (NEST), the European Network of Apprenticeship Cities, of which CMRC is a member, the European networks of trade associations representing the companies in the sector and networks of companies related to sustainability issues, such as the European Federation of Contract Catering Organisations; research centres, think tanks that at European level deal with the development of "green" competences with particular attention to the "Food" sector, such as Good Food Institute Europe.
Target groups involved in Project activities
To whom our project is relevant
The project addresses 4 target groups that will be involved in and directly benefit from the activities project activities:
The TEACHERS: 194 in total (50 in France, 36 in Italy, 35 in Spain, 73 in Portugal, 20 in Greece), of which:
- Forty (40) (16 in the two Italian VET centres + 24 in the other centres) will be directly involved in the working group that will follow the different phases of co-design and experimentation of the training modules;
- Ten (10) will participate in the training abroad and will then train, in turn, the other teachers who will contribute to the testing of the training modules;
- Forty (40) teachers will be involved in the testing of the game-based app for competence assessment;
- All 194 teachers will be involved in the community of practice.
The descents of the centres: 630 pupils per year (240 in Italy, 210 in Spain, 80 in Portugal, 100 in Greece) involved in the courses for compulsory education and in the fourth year (EQF levels 3 and 4):
- Two-hundred (200) will be involved in the testing phase of the training modules and the game-based app aimed at assessing the competencies (40 in each centre);
- Twenty (20) will be involved in the training mobility abroad (5 in each centre);
- All learners will be involved in the meetings and exchanges of the community of practice.
A third key target group is made up of companies and sector associations and, therefore, of those already in the world of work that will be involved in the community of practice in each partner territory:
- Webinars and online meetings with experts and state-of-the-art enterprises will also be open to practitioners and entrepreneurs of the sector interested in a personal updating course with a view to the further qualification of the services offered.
Another target group is the public agencies responsible for the VET CURRICULA programming;
The contact persons will be involved in key moments of the development and validation of the training programme.
Partnership
7 Partners | 6 Countries | 28 Months
(Italy, Belgium, Portugal, Greece, Spain, Romania)
The 7 partners of the SSPICE IT! project, representing the world of vocational training, research, and business of 6 different EU countries will:
- Design a training programme on sustainability to develop green and digital skills of future operators/entrepreneurs of the food/catering sector
- Develop a game-based career guidance and assessment tool on green, digital, and entrepreneurship skills
- Create a community of practices involving key stakeholders in the food/catering sector
News & Articles
The Visit of Escola Profissional Amar Terra Verde in Greece
In early November 2024, five students and two professors from the Portuguese vocational education institution Escola Profissional Amar Terra Verde visited Greece for an educational
Game-based Skill Assessment & Career Guidance Tool: Empowering Trainees in the Food and Catering Industry
The Project SSPICE IT! is excited to introduce an innovative tool that transforms learning and career guidance in the food and catering sector. The Game-based
The students of the CMFP of Marino (IT) fly to Portugal for a Living Lab
Exchange activities and Living Labs between SSPICE IT! partners continue. This time it was the turn of the students of the VET centre of Marino
Kickoff of student mobility: students from Castelfusano VET Center visit “Escuela de hostelería y turismo de La Rioja” in Spain
One of the most exciting activities of the SSPICE IT! project, the students’ mobility, started this month with a visit of a group of Italian
The Good Food Plan 2: a Brussels response to the challenges of sustainable food
The Good Food Strategy 2 (GFS2) of the Brussels region represents an ambitious vision aiming to transform the Brussels food system towards greater sustainability, while
Castelfusano CFMP brings SSPICE IT! Sustainability principles in its external exercise in Roma Tre University
The food sustainability guidelines set by the SSPICE IT! project have reached Roma Tre University, thanks to the students of CMFP Castelfusano, one of the
