Next GEn

Within the framework of the Interreg VI-A Austria-Hungary program, the Next GEn project (ATHU-0100024), which started on April 1, 2024, involves the Faipari Tudományos Alapítvány (FATA) as a project partner.

The proportion of renewable energy sources (wind energy, photovoltaic energy and biomass energy) in the Austrian-Hungarian program region is increasing, and this trend will continue in the future thanks to targeted expansions.

There is an increasing demand for skilled labor in the field of renewable energy. However, there is already a shortage in the Austrian-Hungarian border region in the field of maintenance, servicing, and further expansion related to renewable energy. According to experts’ estimates, more than 40,000 RES specialists will be needed by 2030 in the Austrian-Hungarian program region alone. The next generation, the young people, play a decisive role in solving this problem, in reducing the shortage of skilled workers, and thereby contribute to a greener future, climate protection, and reducing the negative effects of climate change.

In summary, the goal of the Next GEn project is to alleviate the shortage of skilled labor in the renewable energy sector in the medium and long term by developing a multi-layered innovative career guidance model for 10-15-year-old students who are about to choose their further education.

The project is implemented within the framework of the cooperation programme Interreg VI-A Austria-Hungary with co-financing from the European Regional Development Fund.

Next GEn kick-off meeting

Within the framework of the Next GEn project, the kick-off meeting took place on Wednesday, April 24, 2024, in the Oberwart settlement in Burgenland. After the online discussions, the project partners (Vas County Government Office, Sekem Energy GmbH, Wood Science Foundation) visited the first face-to-face meeting at the invitation of the leading project partner, BFI Burgenland Vocational Training Institute.

The Next GEn project, lasting 30 months, is intended to alleviate the serious shortage of skilled labor in the renewable energy market with the help of a multi-layer career guidance model. The project is co-financed by the European Union and the Hungarian State within the Austria-Hungary Interreg cooperation program.

At the kick-off meeting, the partners got to know each other personally, discussed the main goals of the Next GEn project, jointly developed the foundations of effective cooperation, and the operational plan for the first half-year period of the project was also discussed and accepted.

The Next GEn cross-border project has started

On April 1, 2024, the Next GEn project (ATHU-0100024) was launched within the framework of the Interreg VI-A Austria-Hungary program, in which the Wood Science Foundation (FATA) also participates effectively as a project partner.

Wind energy, photovoltaic energy (solar energy) and biomass energy are increasingly used as renewable energy sources in the Austrian-Hungarian border region. In accordance with the expansion goals set for renewable energy, this trend will strengthen even further in the future.

However, the sector already has to face an extremely serious problem in the Austrian- Hungarian border region, namely, the lack of skilled workforce for the expansion, installation, and maintenance of renewable energy sources.

The goal of the Next GEn project is to mitigate labour shortages in the medium and long
term with the help of a multilayered innovative career orientation model, targeting the 10-
15-year-old age group who are about to choose a career.

During the 30 months of the project, diverse, effective program elements help to shape attitudes and career orientation. The development of concepts and knowledge materials based on secondary and primary research results (surveys, interviews) and workshops are carried out, among other things. Concepts related to renewable energy sources are tested at several levels; in addition, mentor training, teacher workshops and cross-border competitions for students help to achieve the goals of the Next GEn project.

Thanks to the many years of research experience of Wood Science Foundation, we are mainly responsible for the implementation of the secondary and primary research project elements on the Hungarian side, and in addition, we will be an active player in the other program elements in cooperation with the project partners with our career orientation- specific, environmental and energy awareness-raising event organization practice.

Project partners
Leading project partner:
BFI Burgenland Vocational Training Institute

Project partners:
Vas County Government Office
Sekem Energy GmbH
Wood Science Foundation

Strategic partners
Bildungsdirektion für Burgenland
Burgenland Energie AG
Berufsförderungsinstitut Wien
Sárvári Tankerületi Központ
Szombathelyi Tankerületi Központ
bit schulungscenter GmbH
Bildungsdirektion für Steiermark
FAGOSZ – Fagazdasági Országos Szakmai Szövetség
SolarTech-Investment Kft.

Eduwood

The Foundation, as the lead partner of the EDUWOOD (ATHU166) project supported by the INTERREG V-A Cross-border Cooperation Programme Austria-Hungary, has developed an online educational platform as the main outcome of the project. The project was motivated by the fact that woodwork education has problems with meeting the needs of the labour market in cross-border relations, leading to drop-outs due to a lack of motivation of students or delays in the completion of the (graduate) training.

On the Hungarian side, education is not sufficiently practice-oriented, the project approach is not wide enough, and the number of professionals involved is still low. Nevertheless, there is a growing demand for the experiential use of online tools. The project will support the development of practice-oriented, project-based woodwork education in the border region in cooperation with educational and industrial partners.

In the first phase of the platform’s operation, following the implementation of mass open online courses (MOOCs), an online learning platform was created, aiming at “skill sharing”. It aims at increasing student motivation and “providing educational experiences” by building communities. In this way, we offer an innovative and project-based tool for woodwork education and have organised career-oriented events, field trips and motivational training for primary and secondary school students. The platform offers a platform for cooperation between teachers, trainers, students and pupils from secondary and higher education institutions in the cross- border region.

Programmes for school children in wood and nature education, career guidance (EFOP)

In the project EFOP-3.2.5-17 Career Orientation, with special emphasis on the development of MTMI skills and competences in the institutions of the Sopron Education Centre, our Foundation – as a contractor – was responsible for the following project elements:

During the project, we organized 4 career orientation days at the University of Sopron, and these events aimed at supporting the career orientation of students, with a special focus on the choice and promotion of technical careers, such as wood- and paper industry, mechatronics, industrial products and design, as well as IT and the development of related competences. The aim was to introduce students to the diversity of professions and the opportunities offered by their career models through interactive and creative programmes. The events also aimed at promoting informed adult career building as well as a successful labour market participation in the future while acquiring necessary skills for doing that.

During the project, 30 interactive programmes were organised for groups of 20 upper primary school students at the LIGNEUM Visitor Centre (University of Sopron).

In addition, the project included 5 sessions of workplace presentations related to MTMI disciplines for groups of 25 students in classes 7-12. During the study tours, students visited engineering workplaces where they could get to know the daily life of the enterprises involved in the project and the representatives of the MTMI (Mathematics, Science, Technology and Informatics) specialisation in a playful way. The laboratories and workshops of the Natural Resources Research Centre (NRRC) of the University of Sopron provided an excellent opportunity to demonstrate engineering work (laboratories, training facilities), and therefore the project included 2 visits to the NRRC. In addition, the project organised a thematic and professional summer camp for 50 students.

Eduwood closing event

The closing event of the project took place on 12.12.2022 in the online room.

After the opening ceremony and the welcome speech, the Eduwood platform was presented from the developers’ and users’ point of view. In addition, the deputy director of the educational institution involved in the project reported useful information about the experience with EDUWOOD. At the end of the event, all participants had the opportunity to share their positive experiences and opinions in a discussion round.

Eduwood study tour

The teachers and students of HTL Mödling, the Vas Megyei Szakképzési Centrum Hefele Menyhért Szakképző Iskola, the Zalaegerszegi SZC Deák Ferenc Technikum and the Nagykanizsai SZC Zsigmondy Vilmos Technikum visited furniture companies of outstanding importance in the Austrian-Hungarian border region on 1 December 2022, in the framework of the Interreg EduWood study trip.

The first visit was to a very special site, the F. List factory in Thomasberg, where interiors for yachts and private jets are made.

They then visited the new Sixay Furniture showroom and factory. The history and work of the founder-owner László Szikszai was presented to the participants. They could observe the materials, construction and solutions of the design solid wood furniture.

Afterwards, young people were given an insight into the work of one of the largest furniture companies in the region, IKEA Industry Hungary Kft. in Sopron, where the employees mainly produce solid wood and veneered panel products for kitchens.

Young people participating in the programme were able to learn about the latest technologies, product development and manufacturing solutions at all three sites.

The EduWood platform is now available

The platform was created with the aim to stand out among online knowledge-sharing platforms; to meet modern needs, including those of educational institutions. Thus, it was entirely inspired by innovation in education and student entrepreneurship.

For the EduWood platform, the focus was on knowledge and learning materials related to the wood industry. The main functions of the online knowledge sharing system include, for example, creating different projects, taking courses, and building communities, learning together and helping each other. Content production, such as sharing documents or video content, and the integration of different online platforms for collaborative work, are an essential part of the collaborative work.

The online platform is used to build a cross-border community of students, teachers and related industry actors who transfer some knowledge to their peers, mainly through video sharing, but also to share educational material in other formats for specific categories of wood architecture and furniture industry.

Unlike other online knowledge-sharing platforms, the EduWood platform also allows any registered member – even students – to create and deliver lessons, not just teachers. It also includes a number of additional features to support community goals. External companies and entrepreneurs can be involved in the teaching and projects, so they can actually participate in the collaborative work, either through consultation or joint work. Community building, inspiration, motivation, intercultural synergistic learning and exploitation of intercultural factors, learning about each other’s cultures and sharing teaching tools and materials.

Access to the platform : https://app.eduwood.org/

The hungarian-austrian cross-border cooperation programme “Eduwood” started

The “EDUWOOD” Hungarian-Austrian cross-border cooperation programme was launched in May 2021. The main task of the project, which is being implemented within the framework of the Interreg V-A Austria-Hungary programme with the support of the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF), is the practice-oriented, project-based development of woodworking and furniture education on both sides of the border.

The idea behind the project was motivated by the need to better connect between education and the labour market. In both countries, the lack of motivation of students in the field of woodwork and furniture education, drop-outs or delays in completing (graduate) training can be observed. In the experience of professionals, education is not sufficiently practice-oriented and project-based, and the number of practitioners involved is still low. On both sides of the border, the challenge for educational institutions is to nurture talent and develop competences in line with industry needs. Practice-oriented, long-term, educational cooperation between enterprises and educational institutions works well within the two countries (dual training), but there is no established system for cross-border cooperation, so concrete, long-term cooperation agreements are needed in the field of wood architecture and furniture between enterprises and schools, linking the two sides of the border.


The overall coordination of the project will be carried out by the Sopron Wood Science Foundation (FATA) in partnership with the Institut für Innovations- und Trendforschung (IITF) in Graz and the secondary and higher education institutions, but the project objectives can only be achieved if as many students, teachers and enterprises as possible are involved.

“In addition to the implementation of MOOC courses, we plan to create a common online learning platform for skill sharing, building community and increasing student motivation by making learning an experience for them,” said Pakainé dr. Kováts Judit, adding that online education is now in the spotlight due to the epidemic situation, but there is still a growing demand for the use of online tools in the education of the younger generation.

The online platform will be used to build a cross-border community of students, teachers and related industry players who will impart some knowledge to their peers, mainly through video sharing, but it will also be possible to share educational material in other formats on different topics, in specific categories of woodworking and furniture industry. For primary school pupils, career guidance will be provided through workshops, job fairs and summer camps.