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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.

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.

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.

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 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 “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.