Periodic Reporting for period 1 - UrBIOfuture (Boosting future careers, education and research activities in the European bio-based industry)
Periodo di rendicontazione: 2019-05-01 al 2020-04-30
UrBIOfuture aims to bridge this gap between the professional profiles demanded by the bioindustry sector and the existing educational offer by identifying education needs and career opportunities in the European bio-based sector, involving stakeholders, and setting the path for the industry to attract qualified talent. The project objectives are: (1) To map completed and ongoing programs addressing curricula that involve bio-based activities; (2) To foster the interaction and alignment among educational and research institutions and industry; (3) To identify current education and professional gaps and skills mismatch in the bio-based field; and (4) To provide the bio-based industry and sector with a basis for promoting careers in the bio-based sector, the so-called “UrBIOfuture experience”.
The main conclusions we achieved with the project implementation are:
•European Complexity: the complexity of Europe regarding different legal frameworks and educational systems is a challenge in order to implement common activities to boost careers, educational programmes and research activities. It’s important to create networks to facilitate the educational collaboration of those regions with similar industries, and to build bridges between the different industries in order to facilitate careers and research activities.
•Improve research and innovation competences: The industry identify a GAP in terms of knowledge transfer from the laboratories to the industry. It’s important to improve innovation competences, which means that we should prepare the workforce, especially the ones doing research, to think in the final use of their research results.
•Foster education and industry collaboration: it’s important to strength the connection between educational institutions at all levels with the industry needs and the entire value-chain, so we should increase the collaboration of the industry in the process.
•New educational methodologies: good competence programming should combine different types of methodological strategies and practice in order to overcome the challenge of comprehensive teaching with guarantees of success. Some of the methodologies to be implemented are laboratory practices, field work, simulation, case studies, problem-based learning, supervised projects, etc..
•Soft skills and cross-sectorial skills: It’s important for the professionals to be open-minded to new knowledge and point of views, as well as cultural differences, in order to achieve the challenges of collaboration with other regions, industries and professionals with different educational background.
•Collaboration: University-Industry collaboration is a necessary condition for innovation and active interaction between the two agents is essential for any region to achieve greater competitiveness.
Results: https://www.urbiofuture.eu/
The main conclusions we achieved with the project implementation are:
•European Complexity: the complexity of Europe regarding different legal frameworks and educational systems is a challenge in order to implement common activities to boost careers, educational programmes and research activities. It’s important to create networks to facilitate the educational collaboration of those regions with similar industries, and to build bridges between the different industries in order to facilitate careers and research activities.
•Improve research and innovation competences: The industry identify a GAP in terms of knowledge transfer from the laboratories to the industry. It’s important to improve innovation competences, which means that we should prepare the workforce, especially the ones doing research, to think in the final use of their research results.
•Foster education and industry collaboration: it’s important to strength the connection between educational institutions at all levels with the industry needs and the entire value-chain, so we should increase the collaboration of the industry in the process.
•New educational methodologies: good competence programming should combine different types of methodological strategies and practice in order to overcome the challenge of comprehensive teaching with guarantees of success. Some of the methodologies to be implemented are laboratory practices, field work, simulation, case studies, problem-based learning, supervised projects, etc..
•Soft skills and cross-sectorial skills: It’s important for the professionals to be open-minded to new knowledge and point of views, as well as cultural differences, in order to achieve the challenges of collaboration with other regions, industries and professionals with different educational background.
•Collaboration: University-Industry collaboration is a necessary condition for innovation and active interaction between the two agents is essential for any region to achieve greater competitiveness.
Results: https://www.urbiofuture.eu/
The UrBIOfuture project contributes to support public-private concerted efforts needed between academy and industry by boosting future careers, education and research activities in the European bio-based industry.
UrBIOfuture obtained the following main results:
•Methodology for the identification of bio-industry professional skills and competences needs.
•European map of existing needs and lacks in professional profiles and skills in the bio-based industry.
•European map of educational programmes related to bioeconomy.
•Report identifying gaps and skills mismatch in the bio-based field, based on the analysis of the results of the European map of educational programmes and the European map of existing industry needs.
•Guidelines to implement training programmes for bio-based industries.
•Strategies to foster the collaboration between educational institutes and European pilot facilities, according to the analysis of Biorruki.
•Set of materials (UrBIOfuture experience) to engage students, unemployed people and professionals in the field of bioeconomy.
•Toolkit for high schools to train the trainer and train the students in the field of bio-industry.
•Promotional materials (website, video, posters, flyers, webinars, etc..) to raise awareness on the importance of the European bioeconomy.
Regarding the dissemination activities, the website was fully operative. On social media, the UrBIOfuture accounts have followers in LinkedIn, Twitter, Instagram and subscribers in YouTube. Five newsletters were launched, 2 video summing up the project’s main outcomes were also produced and shared, 2 webinars were hosted, recorded, and made available on the project’s website. We hosted a joint webinar with LIFT, and a final online conference.
The objectives of UrBIOfuture’s afterlife plan are:
•To continue clustering activities and networking to contribute to other projects and initiatives
•To maintain and keep updated the communication and dissemination channels and resources
•To leverage the project results through partner’s activities
•To foster the engagement and collaboration of administrations, universities and industries to join forces in the implementation of the results
UrBIOfuture obtained the following main results:
•Methodology for the identification of bio-industry professional skills and competences needs.
•European map of existing needs and lacks in professional profiles and skills in the bio-based industry.
•European map of educational programmes related to bioeconomy.
•Report identifying gaps and skills mismatch in the bio-based field, based on the analysis of the results of the European map of educational programmes and the European map of existing industry needs.
•Guidelines to implement training programmes for bio-based industries.
•Strategies to foster the collaboration between educational institutes and European pilot facilities, according to the analysis of Biorruki.
•Set of materials (UrBIOfuture experience) to engage students, unemployed people and professionals in the field of bioeconomy.
•Toolkit for high schools to train the trainer and train the students in the field of bio-industry.
•Promotional materials (website, video, posters, flyers, webinars, etc..) to raise awareness on the importance of the European bioeconomy.
Regarding the dissemination activities, the website was fully operative. On social media, the UrBIOfuture accounts have followers in LinkedIn, Twitter, Instagram and subscribers in YouTube. Five newsletters were launched, 2 video summing up the project’s main outcomes were also produced and shared, 2 webinars were hosted, recorded, and made available on the project’s website. We hosted a joint webinar with LIFT, and a final online conference.
The objectives of UrBIOfuture’s afterlife plan are:
•To continue clustering activities and networking to contribute to other projects and initiatives
•To maintain and keep updated the communication and dissemination channels and resources
•To leverage the project results through partner’s activities
•To foster the engagement and collaboration of administrations, universities and industries to join forces in the implementation of the results
The UrBIOfuture project impacts were directly linked to the achievement of the planned KPI, which were almost all of them full achieved. Some deviations appeared due to COVID-19, but thanks to the work done by the partners in order to face the context changes we succeeded in the activities planned to present the project to the planned stakeholders.
Impact 1 (EI1): Provide the bio-based industry and sector with an overview of completed and ongoing programmes addressing curricula that involve bio-based activities
Impact 2 (EI2): Provide the bio-based industry and sector with a basis for promoting careers in the bio-based sector
Impact 3. (EI3): Promote an improved and efficient alignment and interaction among industry and educational and research institutions, focusing on the needed skills and potential job opportunities in the bio-based sector.
Other impacts:
•Careers promotions in the bio-based sector and qualified employment in this field
•Improve the competitiveness of the bioeconomy in Europe
•The impulse to the creation of other programs such as UrBIOfuture that have the purpose of the development of a bio-based economy with the creation of qualified employment
•Bio-based activities as a mainstream concept in education from primary school to high educational level
The implementation of UrBIOfuture project contributed to the achievement of BBI-JU projects KPI related to the socio-economic and environmental impact. Specifically, the project promoted:
1.Increase competitiveness (European companies, industry): The development of UrBIOfuture will provide guidelines to improve Educational and Training programmes in order to align it with Bio-economy.
2.Training or education: UrBIOfuture project focus its efforts no analyse the current educational programmes and the bioindustry skill needs in order to identify the GAPS. With this results we will design guidelines to help educational institutions to align their programmes to industry needs.
3.Awareness and understanding of bio-based economy in the society: The project considered the design of materials, such us brochures, videos, events, etc.. which aim is to aware society of the importance of Bio industry and also to attract them to educational programmes related to bio industry.
4.Contribution to Human Capacity Building: That means that the labour market will have more professionals prepared with the skills demanded by Bio industry.
Impact 1 (EI1): Provide the bio-based industry and sector with an overview of completed and ongoing programmes addressing curricula that involve bio-based activities
Impact 2 (EI2): Provide the bio-based industry and sector with a basis for promoting careers in the bio-based sector
Impact 3. (EI3): Promote an improved and efficient alignment and interaction among industry and educational and research institutions, focusing on the needed skills and potential job opportunities in the bio-based sector.
Other impacts:
•Careers promotions in the bio-based sector and qualified employment in this field
•Improve the competitiveness of the bioeconomy in Europe
•The impulse to the creation of other programs such as UrBIOfuture that have the purpose of the development of a bio-based economy with the creation of qualified employment
•Bio-based activities as a mainstream concept in education from primary school to high educational level
The implementation of UrBIOfuture project contributed to the achievement of BBI-JU projects KPI related to the socio-economic and environmental impact. Specifically, the project promoted:
1.Increase competitiveness (European companies, industry): The development of UrBIOfuture will provide guidelines to improve Educational and Training programmes in order to align it with Bio-economy.
2.Training or education: UrBIOfuture project focus its efforts no analyse the current educational programmes and the bioindustry skill needs in order to identify the GAPS. With this results we will design guidelines to help educational institutions to align their programmes to industry needs.
3.Awareness and understanding of bio-based economy in the society: The project considered the design of materials, such us brochures, videos, events, etc.. which aim is to aware society of the importance of Bio industry and also to attract them to educational programmes related to bio industry.
4.Contribution to Human Capacity Building: That means that the labour market will have more professionals prepared with the skills demanded by Bio industry.