EUROPEA International unites 24 national EUROPEA networks and represents several hundred ‘green’ vocational schools who teach land-based subjects; such as forestry, farming, landscape gardening and horticulture. In other words, the perfect audience to present the TEAM#UP educational materials on ecological restoration. From the 11th to the 14th of May, EUROPEA International representatives and project guests met for their biannual General Assembly meeting in Šabač, Serbia. Hosted by the Secondary Agricultural School of Šabač, we enjoyed good presentations, stimulating discussions, informal networking, and great local culture and culinary delights. Deep thanks to our gracious hosts and host country.
In an afternoon presentation on the first day of the meeting, Ryan Campbell (TEAM#UP project manager at Anhalt University of Applied Sciences in Bernburg, Germany) and Juan Roman Patiño (Professor at CIPFP El Palmeral vocational school in Valencian Region, Spain) shared the highlights and educational resources of TEAM#UP. Ryan began with a short teaching lesson on what is indeed ecological restoration, what it is not, and how the Restoration Economy is projected to grow. This was followed by an audience survey asking if vocational students at these ‘green’ schools would benefit their career if they were taught skills in ecological restoration.
Ryan continued with project hightlights, such as the four Centres of Vocational Excellence (CoVEs), curriculum integration of ecological restoration, student exchanges, Ideathon successes, and teaching digital skills through the development of virtual demonstration sites. He polled the audience once more to ask if they believe there is a demand from employers and businesses for workers with skills in ecological restoration.
Then Juan took the stage and presented his perspective of TEAM#UP. Juan spoke about how the CoVE in Spain has helped him in his teaching, what the students have learned, how these experiences are beneficial to their education and career goals. Juan ended with how specialization courses for vocational training students and micro-credentials aimed at vocational training teachers and ecological restoration professionals can be developed, and impressed the value of the TEAM#UP educational resources to the audience.
We ended with a demonstration of the Digital Ecological Restoration Toolbox (DERTO), which is an open educational resources platform, developed by TEAM#UP to host the created educational materials. The audience was shown what DERTO is, what students can learn, how teachers can use the resources, and how to get started. Ryan polled the audience one last time, wanting to understand barriers to uptake and integration of DERTO resources, assuming there was interest from the VET teachers.
After the presentation, and in the days following, many EUROPEA members spoke with both Juan and Ryan about how they can use the TEAM#UP resources, what future collaborations are possible and how to further spread the message to others. Overall, showcasing the DERTO materials to vocational teachers, schools, & VET networks from across the continent was a success! Thanks to EUROPEA International for their support and platform to let VET providers across Europe know that training materials in ecological restoration are only a click away!