Green Skills for the Automotive Sector
Innovation Garage of Garages
Erasmus+ KA2 strategic partnership
Project No. 2020-1-IT01-KA202-008555
VET Providers & Companies
in the Automotive Sector
Co-designing the workplace layout
Training new work-based skills
for BEV-HEV vehicles & avionics
boosting green & e-mobility learning programs
in I-VET, H-VET & C-VET
According to the “Reflection Paper Towards a Sustainable Europe by 2030” (EC 2019), the EU strategy for the transition to the Sustainable Development Goals stated in the Agenda 2030, is based, among others, on the Pillars “Future-proof energy, buildings and mobility”, through the Key Enabler “Education, science, technology, research, innovation & digitization”. These strategic assets are able to contribute to the promotion of strategies and methodologies for Green Sector Skills, through innovative practices for the training of students & teachers to become factors of change in saving resources, reducing energy consumption, offsetting / reducing emissions into the atmosphere, adopting sustainable mobility choices. The mobility sector is a crucial driver for the transition to a carbon neutral future, with particular reference to the transport of people and goods, while transportation itself is responsible for 27% of EU greenhouse gas emissions.
Transport and mobility services employ 11 million people, yet transport generates pollution, accounting for almost a quarter of Europe’s greenhouse gas emissions. From logistics for road transport of commercial goods and goods (by truck), to the mobility of people (workers and students), agricultural work sites and construction sites (agricultural and heavy goods vehicles), traditional vehicles generate emissions, infrastructure congestion, noise and accidents. The EU’s declared strategy for a sustainable future is based on achieving by 2030 more than 50% electric/hybrid vehicles compared to all vehicles, also thanks to the expansion of electric charging stations by +15%. In this context, electric/hybrid vehicles make it possible to reverse the trend towards reducing CO2 emissions and sustainable transport, and the synergy between VET and automotive companies is a strategic asset.
The VET sector plays a key role in the development of work-related skills towards a sustainable mobility model, thanks to intrinsic strategic assets linked to:
–Work-based learning, both in initial, higher and continuous training at work
–Skills, methodologies, processes, technologies and equipment specific of the automotive sector
–Learning-by-doing and learner-centred approach
-Simulation of the work setting according to the real workplace
-Strong and structured relations with companies and stakeholders in the automotive sector
–VET Teachers/trainers as a link between the demand for skills and the supply of labour (students)
-Possibility to co-design work-based education and training programmes with automotive companies
-Possibility to address and correct the mismatch between skills in training and the labour market
VET providers: adaptation of programmes and didactic methodologies for the work-based application of skills both for the assembly and maintenance of electric vehicles and for the design & maintenance of on-board avionics, as an evolution of the sustainable mobility paradigm with resource saving, reduction of energy consumption and emissions;
Companies in the Automotive sector: to promote the alignment of the VET sector to the demand for skills and workers’ access to knowledge/skills related to electric/hybrid engines and their maintenance/intervention, as well as on-board avionics.
The aim is to design, test and release, in the form of Open Educational Resources (OER), training programmes based on WBL methodology related to skills for the assembly and repair of electric/hybrid vehicles, avionics technologies and on-road safety procedures.
The didactic resources will be expendable in I-VET and H-VET for the training of mechatronic operators, autronic and car-repair technicians and transferable to other training settings, for work-based learning in the garage or on the workplace in C-VET for the continuous training of workers.
The project develops the methodology of the Innovation Garage applied to the work-based learning environment, for the development of training programmes dedicated to the installation and maintenance of technologies for the electrification of vehicles and on-board avionics, as well as to road rescue procedures and technical assistance in safety. The Innovation Garage is an innovation development methodology related to Design Thinking, and has already been tested by world-class companies such as IBM in the IT sector and Thyssenkrupp in the automotive sector, precisely to involve employees, technicians and middle-management in the development of new products and processes in a bottom-up logic. The FCA Fiat Chrysler Automobiles group itself, from 2011 onwards, applied the model of the pilot production lines co-designed by technicians and workers for the bottom-up reorganization of the Pomigliano d’Arco plant, according to the Lean World Class Manufacturing approach, able to combine increased productivity with reinforced ergonomics and safety standards. The development of the Innovation Garage as an AGILE teaching methodology able to integrate the application of industrial work metrics, based on the Ergo-UAS model, typical of the Automotive sector, to the training workplace, envisages the creation of an “innovation start-up” of product/process innovation/organizational models within the company context as a workplace, but open to the outside and co-designed – in terms of technologies, setting up of the setting, hierarchical and operational relations, work processes – by VET teachers and trainers, VET students and workers in continuous training.
Innovation Garage of Garages is composed of a partnership of the highest level, coordinated by Cisita Parma scarl. The testing team includes I-VET institutions with a specific automotive vocation at operational (EQF 3) and regulatory levels (EQF4), such as IIS A. Ferrari from Maranello (MO) and the Technical Institute for Mechanics, Mechatronics, Electronics & Automotive Stichting ROC MIDDEN Nederland from Utrecht (NL), the Automobile High School from Vilnius (Lithuania) and the Goteborgs Tekniska College (Sweden), specialized in Mechanics, Mechatronics and Automotive. The ITS Maker Foundation, an H-VET institution of excellence in Emilia Romagna region, completes the VET bodies by taking part in the course “Advanced Technician in Endothermal, Hybrid and Electric Motors”. The VET institutions will be supported in the experimentation and co-design of work-based learning environments by world-class automotive companies such as VOLVO Trucks division, the leading Lithuanian Audi & Volkswagen dealer Moeller Auto, and Innovam Nieuwegein (NL), an excellent consulting and training company specialising in new skills in the automotive sector and in electric/hybrid vehicles, equipped with electronic and avionics systems, as well as in the procedures for safe road rescue assistance on e-vehicles.
The project, lasting 30 months from December 2020 to May 2023, will develop through 6 phases corresponding to educational programmes open to reuse and work-based experimentations co-designed with Automotive companies (Intellectual Output):
IO1: VET train-the-trainer programme, released as OER, for the transfer of the Innovation Garage methodology to WBL programmes, thanks to an AGILE pilot experimentation within the work-based learning setting, meant as an innovation start-up co-designed with the Automotive sector companies, aimed at the implementation of workplace-based learning programmes, dedicated to electric/hybrid vehicles and their assembly/maintenance, as well as to on-board avionics and safe road rescue assistance.
IO2: WBL-based OER learning programme located inside the Innovation Garage, related to the assembly and installation of electric/hybrid technologies in automotive vehicles;
IO3: WBL-based OER educational programme located in the Innovation Garage, related to the maintenance/repair of electric/hybrid technologies in automotive vehicles;
IO4: WBL-based OER educational programme located in the Innovation Garage, related to the installation/test of on-board avionics;
IO5: WBL-based OER educational programme located in the Innovation Garage related to on-board avionics maintenance;
IO6: WBL-based OER training programme located in the Innovation Garage relating to safe road rescue procedures and customer assistance on the e-vehicles.
All the IG2 project’s deliverables will be made progressively available in this section. Stay Tuned!
A new training video about the lithium-ion battery system is available onto IG2 project’s official YouTube Channel. In this video by Goteborgs Tekniska College, Mr Fredrik Hannerz, Msc and Senior Change Manager upgrades the former training module about lithium-ion batteries, adding a complete overview on the EV training suites delivered by GTC together with Volvo …
IG2 partners had a wonderful time in Vilnius, hosted by Vilniaus Automechanikos ir Verslo Mokykla and their team of highly qualified VET teachers. The meeting started with a visit to VAVM’s training workshops, where learners develop skills related to vehicle maintenance, body work and body painting, with specific equipment for hybrid vehicle diagnosis and troubleshooting. …
After the summer break Innovation Garage partners are gathering together again in Lithuania, Vilnius, for another TPM meeting. Partners will be hosted by Vilniaus Automechanikos ir Verslo Mokykla, also known as VAVM, the most important High School for Car Mechanics in Lithuania, based in the capital city. VAVM is an experienced partner in Erasmus+ projects …
Continue reading “Autumn 22 Meeting in Vilnius coming soon!”