Ambitious Skills and Innovation Strategies: A territorial Approach

Including rural areas in innovation strategies to tackle EU challenges
Rural areas, cover 44% of the EU territory and are home to almost 1 in 4 Europeans. Education, vocational training and lifelong learning play a vital role in the economic and social strategies of the European Union (EU). The strategic framework for European cooperation in education and training is called Education and training 2020 (ET 2020). It pursues four common objectives: make lifelong learning and mobility a reality; improve the quality and efficiency of education and training; promote equity, social cohesion and active citizenship; enhance creativity and innovation, including entrepreneurship.

However, rural areas rural or sparsely populated regions often have a relatively large agricultural sector, with a low level of supply of highly-skilled employment opportunities. This in turn reinforces the existing brain drain trend, from rural areas to cities.

In this context, integrated innovation and skills strategies are needed to develop the strengths and comparative advantages of rural areas, instead of barely considering them as a source for raw material and cheaper space. For rural regions, the necessary competitive edge can be done by finding niches or mainstreaming new technology into the existing industry. Further including rural areas in innovation strategies will also help regions to reach the objectives of the Green Deal.

The webinar will look at:

• Why innovation strategies aimed at developing Advanced manufacturing need to be based on territorial approaches and why it is so important to consider and involve rural areas from the start
• Available EU funding opportunities and tools to boost innovation and skills in rural areas
• Strategies to attract innovation and skills in rural areas
• The role of VET to achieve more cohesive regional development

For more info and agenda of the event, please access this link: https://skillman.eu/ambitious-skills/

Innovation and farming: applications of Advanced Manufacturing in the food value chain

This webinar focuses on advanced manufacturing solutions in driving sustainable change in the agri-food sector

It will offer regions and stakeholders engaged with the agri-food sector the opportunity to learn and share experiences about how regions, companies, and Vocational Education & Training centres can identify common information communications technology (ICT) and advanced manufacturing solutions in driving the change in the food processing and supply chain, in order to foster regional cooperation based on the shared goals and values of the Smart Specialisation Strategies.

A new approach to food production

The agricultural sector, as in the case of other industries, is impacted by global trends related to demographics, economics, and climate change. Therefore the question is how to jointly address the societal and economic challenges in the food sector?

The agri-food sector contributes significantly to the support of the Sustainable Development Goals, from the Zero Hunger to the Decent Work & Economic Growth. Hence, the production of sustainable food is a key priority to ensure both societal and environmental wellbeing across regions. Yet, this poses a set of challenges to the producers when it comes to their capacity to remain competitive in the market. To overcome these challenges, the need to investigate and design innovative approaches involving Advanced Manufacturing techniques and digital tools becomes crucial to unlocking new solutions that can help farmers to work more efficiently and sustainably and, in turn, revolutionise the agriculture sector.

The webinar will look at

• How agriculture is making use of data mobility, industry 4.0, and new technologies
• Regional examples of innovation and skills strategies in food tech and value chain
• The role of TVET in helping sustain innovation in the agrifood sector

For more info and agenda of the event, please access this link: https://skillman.eu/innovation-and-farming-applications-of-advanced-manufacturing-in-the-food-value-chain/